Admirals  of  the  Caribbean 
Francis  Russell  Hart 


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ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 


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http://www.archive.org/details/admiralsofcaribbOOhartrich 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE 


ADMIRALS 
OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

BY 
FRANCIS  RUSSELL  HART,  F.R.G.S. 


WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN   COMPANY 

1922 


COPYRIGHT,  1922,  BY  FRANCIS  RUSSELL  HART 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


LOAN  STACX 


CAMBRIDGE  •  MASSACHUSETTS 
PRINTED  IN  THE  U.S.A. 


nil 


H^s 


PREFACE 


THE  romantic  interest  which  attaches  to  the  wa/ 
ters  of  the  Caribbean  has  to  some  extent  obscured 
the  fact  that  the  records  of  events  in  the  Caribbean  during 
the  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  and  eighteenth  centuries  are 
an  integral  part  of  the  history  of  England  and  of  the 
American  colonies.  Battles  fought  in  the  Caribbean  Sea 
were  often  an  important  factor  in  making  peace  or  war 
in  Europe. 

Not  only  were  settlements  established  in  the  West 
Indies  and  in  the  Spanish  Main  a  century  in  advance  of 
those  in  North  America,  but  for  three  hundred  years  the 
struggles  of  the  European  nations  for  the  control  of  the 
commerce  of  this  region  had  a  direct  effect  upon  the 
material,  political,  and  racial  development  of  the  North 
American  colonies. 

During  the  last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Spain 
was  the  strongest  of  European  powers.  In  the  New 
World,  Spanish  rule  was  practically  absolute  from  Labrador 
to  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  on  the  Atlantic  side  and  from  the 
Isthmus  south  on  the  western  coast  of  South  America ; 
in  fact  a  Papal  grant  had  divided  the  American  continent 
between  Portugal  and  Spain.  The  arrogant  claim  of  the 
Spanish  Crown  was  contested  only  by  a  small  French  set/ 


/,..    789 


vi  PREFACE 

tlement  on  the  St.  Lawrence  and  in  Labrador  by  Fro/ 
bisher's  Adventure.  The  story  of  the  great  seamen  of 
Elizabeth's  reign  —  Drake,  Hawkins,  and  Frobisher  — 
is  almost  the  history  of  the  England  of  their  day ;  the 
battles  they  fought  made  the  settlements  in  Virginia  and 
Massachusetts  possible. 

Of  no  less  influence  in  the  development  of  the  English 
colonial  settlements  were  the  naval  undertakings  of  Sir 
Henry  Morgan  in  the  seventeenth,  and  of  Admiral  Ver/ 
non  and  Admiral  Rodney  in  the  eighteenth,  century. 

It  was  the  final  supremacy  of  British  control  of  the 
Caribbean  Sea  which  made  the  Rio  Grande  the  northern 
boundary  of  Latin/America  instead  of  the  Potomac. 

The  monographs  which  have  been  here  brought  to/ 
gether  were  written  as  a  contribution  to  the  better  under/ 
standing  of  West  Indian  history ;  those  on  Drake  and  on 
the  French  Expedition  to  Cartagena  were  printed  some 
years  ago  in  an  historical  publication  in  America ;  that 
on  Vernon  appeared  in  **Hispania"  (London)  and  in 
Spanish  in  the  Boletin  de  Historia  y  Antiquedades  de  la 
Academia  Nacional  de  Historia  (Bogota). 

All  of  these  have  been  made  the  subject  of  revision 
and  extension.  The  accounts  of  Morgan  and  Rodney  have 
not  been  previously  published. 

Boston,  1922 


CONTENTS 

I.  The  Early  Navigajors  i 

II.  Sir  Francis  Drake  23 

III.  Sir  Henry  Morgan  42 

IV.  Admirals  de  Pointis  and  du  Casse                109 
V.  Admiral  Vernon  130 

VI.  Lord  Rodney  154. 
Partial  List  of  Sources  and  Bibliography  191 

Index  '                197 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Sir  Francis  Drake  Frontispiece 

From  a  reproduction  of  an  engraving  by  R.  White  "  from  an  Original 
Painting,  Communicated  by  the  Honbie  Sr  Phillip  Sydenham  Barl  Knt 
of  ye  shire  for  Somerset  ** 

The  Routes  of  Columbus  6 

Map  from  Coleccion  de  lot  Vlages  y  Detcubrimientot^  by  Fernandez  de 
Navarrete,  Madrid,  1825. 

Cuzco,THE  Richest  City  of  the  Whole  Peruvian  King- 
dom, IS  taken  by  the  Spaniards  io 

From  an  engraving  by  Theodore  de  Bry,  1596 

Spaniards  driven  to  Cannibalism  by  Hunger  20 

From  an  engraving  by  Theodore  de  Bry,  1599 

The    Capture   of   the    City   of  Santo  Domingo  by 
Drake  in  1586  32 

From  an  engraving  by  Theodore  de  Bry,  1599 

A  Spanish  Treasure-Frigate  40 

From  a  reproduction  of  the  original  drawing  (sent  home  by  an  English 
spy)  in  the  British  State  Papers  Office 

Facsimile  of  Title-Page  of  Exquemelin's  "  Bucaniers 
OF  America,"  London,  1684  50 

Sir  Henry  Morgan  56 

From  an  illustration  in  "  Bucaniers  of  America** 

» 

View  of  Panama  80 

From  an  old  Dutch  print 

De   Pointis'   Map  of  the  Taking  of  Cartagena   in 
1697  120 

From  a  French  engraving 


X  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Admiral  Vernon  134. 

From  an  engraving  by  Harding 

Plan  of  the  Harbour,  Town,  and  Forts  of  Porto 
Bello  138 

From  a  map  drawn  by  Lieut.  Philip  Durell,  published  in  London,  March 
27,  1740 

Map  of  the  Harbour  and  Bay  of  Cartagena  in  1741   144 

Drawn  by  the  author  from  contemporary  maps  and  records  and  corrected 
by  recent  surveys 

Lord  Rodney  156 

From  an  engraving  by  E.  Scriven  after  the  painting  by  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds 

Plan  of  Engagement  of  Fleets  under  Rodney  and 
De  Grasse  on  the  I2TH  April,  1782  184 

From  a  collection  of  contemporary  records 

English  Fleet  under  Rodney,  Hood,  Drake,  and 
Affleck  breaking  the  Line  of  the  French  Fleet, 
April  12,  1782  188 

From  a  reproduction  of  a  contemporary  engraving 


The  end-paper  map  is  from  an  old  French  map  engraved  by  H.   van  Loon 
and  published  in  Paris  in  1705 


ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 


ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

• 

CHAPTER  1 
THE  EARLY  NAVIGATORS 

THE  voyager  approaching  the  Caribbean  Sea  to/day 
from  the  north  passes  through  the  same  gateway 
and  makes  the  same  first  landfall  as  did  Columbus  on  his 
first  voyage.  At  sunrise  on  the  13th  October,  1492,  the 
first  of  the  great  Caribbean  Admirals,  Christopher  Colum/ 
bus,  landed  on  a  small  island  which  he  named  San  Salva/ 
dor.  A  comparison  of  the  data  contained  in  his  records 
with  the  actual  description  and  locations  of  the  small  is/ 
lands  which  form  the  northern  Bahamas  makes  it  practi/ 
cally  certain  that  the  island  at  the  northern  entrance  to  the 
Crooked  Island  passage  which  bears  the  name  of  San  Sal/ 
vador*  is  the  actual  first  landing/place  of  Columbus  in  the 
New  World. 

This  New  World,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  Columbus 
did  not  himself  then  recognize  as  such,  but  believed  he 
had  reached  the  outposts  of  the  Indies,  and  that  the  innu/ 
merable  small  islands  which  he  found  were  those  described 
by  Marco  Polo.  For  this  reason  Columbus  gave  to  the 
lands  which  he  had  discovered  the  name  **  West  Indies," 

*  The  native  name  of  this  island  was  Guanahani }  on  many  charts  it  is  marked 
Watling's  Island. 


2  ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

and  the  mild  but  somewhat  frightened  natives  were  called 
"  Indians/'  It  was  at  this  first  little  island  that  a  new  com/ 
merce  had  its  beginnings.  Columbus  in  his  diary  describes 
the  exchange  of  commodities  with  the  natives  as  follows  : 
"They  afterwards  came  swimming  to  the  ships'  boats 
**  where  we  were,  and  brought  us  parrots  and  balls  of  cot/ 
"ton  thread  and  assegais  and  many  other  things,  and  ex/ 
"  changed  them  for  various  commodities  such  as  little  glass 
"beads  and  small  bells."  It  was  noticed  that  some  of  the 
natives  wore  small  ornaments  of  gold;  Columbus  by  signs 
enquired  as  to  the  origin  of  this  gold  and  was  told  that  it 
came  from  lands  to  the  south.  After  stops  at  various  other 
small  islands,  he  reached  one  which  appeared  so  large  that 
he  was  uncertain  as  to  whether  it  were  island  or  continent. 
By  the  natives  it  was  called  Cuba. 

The  Spaniards  were  charmed  with  the  beauty  and  fer/ 
tility  of  the  island.  Gold  ornaments  were  more  plentiful 
than  on  the  lesser  islands  and  Columbus  was  assured  that 
the  gold  came  from  the  mountains  of  the  interior.  Not 
wholly  satisfied  with  the  amount  of  gold  trinkets  obtained 
in  exchange  for  beads  and  the  like,  and  the  descriptions 
of  the  places  from  which  it  came  being  somewhat  illusive, 
Columbus  proceeded  to  Haiti  where  he  was  told  gold  was 
even  more  plentiful.  Here  gold  in  considerable  quantities 
was  found,  but  still  it  was  to  the  distant  mountains  that  the 
natives  pointed  as  the  inexhaustible  source.  The  belief 
that  he  was  on  the  borders  of  Marco  Polo's  Cathay  and 


THE  EARLY  NAVIGATORS  3 

Cipango  was  so  fixed  in  the  mind  of  Columbus  that  knowl/ 
edge  of  the  great  reality  of  his  accomplishment  was  long 
deferred.  It  was  here  on  the  island  of  Haiti,  which  the 
Spaniards  named  Hispaniola,  that  the  first  European  set/ 
dement  was  attempted. 

Thirty/eight  of  his  company  were  left:  by  Columbus  to 
form  the  base  for  a  colony.  It  was  expected  that,  by  the 
time  Columbus  should  return  with  a  larger  expedition, 
those  left  behind  would  have  learned  somewhat  of  the 
language,  explored  the  country,  and  discovered  the  gold 
mines. 

In  January,  1493,  Columbus  left:  the  newly  established 
settlement,  taking  vnth  him  a  few  of  the  natives  and  all 
the  gold  he  had  collected.  With  the  events  of  the  trans/ 
Atlantic  voyages  of  Columbus  and  his  varied  treatment  at 
home  we  are  not  here  concerned. 

The  accounts  of  the  New  World  given  by  Columbus 
and  his  companions  needed  little  exaggeration  to  incite 
the  ambition  and  greed  of  Ferdinand.  The  second  expedi/ 
tion  was  made  up  of  seventeen  ships  carrying  fifteen  hun/ 
dred  persons  and  reached  Hispaniola  in  November,  1493. 
Columbus  found  his  settlement  wholly  destroyed  and  the 
few  survivors  of  the  original  band  scattered  about  the  is/ 
land. 

The  settlers  left  by  Columbus  had  been  without  com/ 
petent  leadership  and  had  through  violence  and  cruelty 
inflamed  the  natives.  In  no  way  discouraged  by  the  failure 


4  ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

of  his  first  attempt,  Columbus  selected  a  better  site,  planned 
and  laid  out  an  adequately  protected  city,  which  he  named 
Isabella  in  honour  of  the  Queen.  This  was  the  first  endur/ 
ing  settlement  founded  by  Europeans  in  the  New  World, 
Even  in  these  early  days  the  fortunes  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere  were  handicapped  by  the  tangled  diplomacy 
of  the  Old  World.  The  Pope  with  prodigal  hand  had 
granted  to  Portugal  all  the  countries  that  had  been  or 
might  be  discovered  between  Capes  Nun  and  Bojador,  on 
the  African  coast,  to  India.  The  lands  discovered  by  Co^ 
lumbus  and  appropriately  claimed  by  Spain  were,  of  course, 
v^dthin  this  territory  covered  by  the  over /generous  blanket 
assignment  to  Portugal.  It  was  Pope  Martin  V  who  had 
made  the  grant  to  Portugal.  Spain  as  well  as  Portugal  was 
devoutly  Catholic,  and  although  she  may  have  had  men/ 
tal  reservations  as  to  the  actual  authority  of  the  Pope  to 
dispose  of  possible  lands  and  continents,  of  the  location  of 
which  he  could  have  no  exact  knowledge  or  of  the  exist/ 
ence  of  which  he  was  in  ignorance,  she  applied  to  the  new 
Pope,  Alexander  VI,  and  obtained  a  specific  grant  of  all 
the  islands  and  mainland  discovered  or  to  be  discovered  by 
Spain  in  the  Western  Ocean.  To  reconcile  the  two  Papal 
grants  it  was  decreed  that  all  territory  east  of  a  north/and/ 
south  line  drawn  one  hundred  miles  west  of  the  Azores 
should  belong  to  Portugal  and  allterritory  westof  the  same 
line  should  belong  to  Spain.  At  a  later  period  an  excep/ 
tion  was  made  and  Brazil  was  allotted  to  Portugal. 


THE  EARLY  NAVIGATORS  5 

The  authority  of  the  Pope  to  dispose  of  the  New  World 
was  based  on  the  assumption  that  the  care  of  the  heathen 
had  been  placed  by  God  in  the  hands  of  the  Pope,  who 
had,  therefore,  the  right  to  select  his  agents  to  perform 
the  holy  duty. 

On  this  second  voyage  of  Columbus,  after  leaving  his 
brother,  Diego,  as  Governor  of  the  new  colony  at  Isabella 
in  Hispaniola,  Columbus  discovered  and  coasted  about  the 
island  of  Jamaica,  From  Jamaica  he  returned  to  Isabella 
and  found  that  the  colonists,  free  from  his  authorita/ 
tive  control  and  in  spite  of  his  cautions,  had  again  em/ 
broiled  themselves  with  the  natives.  Under  the  direct 
guidance  of  the  great  Admiral,  it  is  probable  that  mild 
measures  would  have  sufficed  to  make  the  rule  of  the  in/ 
vaders  supreme  over  the  fairly  docile  Carib  Indians ;  but 
Diego  Columbus  and  the  Military  Commander,  de  Ojeda, 
were  unequal  to  their  tasks,  and  Columbus  on  his  return 
resorted  to  brutal  measures  to  subdue  the  island.  One  of 
the  chief  caciques  was  taken  with  other  prisoners  to  the 
ships ;  a  heavy  tribute  was  imposed  on  all  Indians  over 
fourteen  years  of  age.  In  the  spring  of  1496,  Columbus 
returned  to  Spain,  this  time  leaving  his  brother  Bar/ 
tolome  in  charge  of  the  colony. 

It  was  in  August,  1498,  that  his  third  voyage  brought 
him  again  to  the  West  Indies  and  his  first  landfall  was  a 
new  island  which  he  named  and  which  is  still  called  Trin/ 
idad.  His  discoveries  brought  him  to  the  near/by  mouth 


6  ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

of  the  Orinoco  River,  the  great  size  of  which  and  its  many 
mouths  made  him  rightly  conclude  that  he  had  at  last 
reached  a  great  continent. 

Of  all  the  great  New  World  which  Columbus  by  his 
knowledge,  courage,  and  perseverance  discovered,  this 
territory,  stretching  from  near  the  Orinoco  to  Panama, 
was  the  only  part  which  was  to  bear  in  part  his  name  and 
be  called  Colombia.*  So  beautiful  did  the  country  appear 
to  Columbus  and  his  companions  that  it  was  believed  to 
be  the  actual  Terrestrial  Paradise  and  the  presumptive 
source  of  the  Orinoco  to  be  the  Garden  of  Eden.  Upon 
his  arrival  at  Hispaniola  he  again  found  affairs  in  a  bad 
state ;  his  brother  Bartolome  possessed  prudence,  but  ap/ 
peared  to  have  lacked  the  forcefulness  necessary  to  exact 
obedience  jfrom  his  associates.  News  of  the  disorder  in  the 
colony  had  reached  Spain.  The  enemies  of  Columbus  had 
found  the  ears  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  Rights  and  priv/ 
ileges  which  had  been  granted  to  Columbus  as  Viceroy 
were  cancelled,  and  he  went  back  to  Spain  a  prisoner. 

Undaunted  by  difficulties,  he  overcame  all  opposition 
and,  following  his  original  aim,  he  attempted  by  a  fourth 
expedition  to  find  a  short  route  to  India.  At  the  advanced 
age  of  sixty/six,  with  his  brother  Bartolome  and  his  son 
Fernando,  he  sailed  from  Spain  in  1502.  On  this  voyage 

*  Three  centuries  later  the  wars  of  secession  against  Spain  resulted  in  the  sep- 
aration of  what  is  now  Venezuela  from  Nueva  Granada.  The  region  to  the  West 
was  named  Colombia. 


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THE  EARLY  NAVIGATORS  7 

he  discovered  Martinique  and  cruised  along  the  whole 
coast  of  Central  America  from  Cape  Gracias  a  Dios  to 
Porto  Bello  on  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  Through  the  loss 
of  two  of  his  four  ships  he  was  forced  to  abandon  his  ex/ 
plorations,  although  still  convinced  that  the  Isthmus  of 
Darien  would  prove  to  be  a  point  around  which  would  be 
found  the  route  to  India. 

Five  centuries  later  the  construction  of  the  Panama 
Canal  made  the  dream  of  Columbus  a  reality. 

On  the  way  from  Porto  Bello  to  Hispaniola,  Columbus 
was  wrecked  on  the  island  of  Jamaica,  and  it  was  not  until 
1504  that,  greatly  aged,  ill  and  depressed  in  spirits,  he 
again  reached  Spain.  He  died  at  Valladolid  on  the  1 2th  of 
May,  1 506.  It  was  as  a  discoverer  and  not  as  a  colonizer  that 
Columbus  left  his  impress  upon  the  New  World. 

During  the  first  century  after  their  discovery,  the  West 
Indies  were  under  the  almost  exclusive  domination  of 
Spain.  The  subsequent  decadence  of  that  great  power  has 
bred  a  misconception  of  her  powerful  and  extraordinary 
initiative  in  connection  with  the  settlement  of  the  New 
World. 

The  later  invasion  of  the  Anglo/Saxon  and  the  influx 
ence  of  theological  bias  has  developed  a  tendency  to  exalt 
the  exploits  of  those  who  foUowed  the  path  which  was 
first  blazed  by  the  Conquist adores  and  to  underrate  the 
courage  and  undaunted  spirit  shown  in  the  Spanish  ad/ 
ventures  in  the  New  World.  It  is  not  wholly  true  that 


8  ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

Spain  the  Conqueror  was  solely  an  avaricious  oppressor 
of  the  peoples  which  she  subdued.  Nor  is  it  true  that  the 
English  adventurers  who  followed  were  actuated  solely 
by  religious  aspirations.  Yet  those  are  the  impressions  to 
be  gained  from  popular  textbooks.  It  is  true,  however, 
that  the  same  causes  which  have  led  to  the  modern  de/ 
cadence  of  Spain  made  of  her  a  bad  colonizer,  and  that  the 
spirit  shown  by  even  the  early  English  navigators  and  ad/ 
venturers  was  more  adapted  to  successfully  effect  perma/ 
nent  occupation  of  the  conquered  lands.  In  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  centuries  all  nations  which  competed  for  a 
share  in  the  rich  booty  of  the  Western  World  were  im/ 
pelled  by  the  same  motives,  and  to  none  can  be  attributed 
a  monopoly  of  either  vice  or  virtue. 

During  the  period  in  which  the  Spanish  domination 
of  the  Caribbean  was  complete  and  for  a  considerable  time 
unchallenged,  great  progress  was  made  in  exploration. 
Fortified  towns  were  built  and  a  system  of  government 
established.  Assisted  by  the  merchants  of  Seville,  many 
of  those  who  had  accompanied  Columbus  on  one  or  more 
of  his  voyages  undertook  on  their  own  accounts  further 
voyages  of  discovery  and  conquest.  In  1499,  Alonzo  de 
Ojeda,  who  had  accompanied  Columbus  on  his  second 
voyage,  followed  the  track  ofthe  great  discoverer  to  Terra 
Firma  and  continued  the  exploration  to  the  Gulf  of  Paria 
and  Cape  Vela.  The  Florentine,  Amerigo  Vespucci,  who 
later  was  to  give  his  name  to  the  two  continents  of  Amer/ 


THE  EARLY  NAVIGATORS  9 

ica  and  who  had  been  of  the  company  of  Columbus  on 
one  voyage,  was  a  companion  of  de  Ojeda. 

At  the  same  time  Pedro  Alonzo  Niiio,  who  had  been 
with  Columbus  on  his  third  voyage,  conducted  a  success/ 
ful  trading  venture,  and  Vicente  Pinzon,  who  had  been 
with  Columbus  on  his  first  voyage,  explored  the  coast  of 
Brazil.  In  the  meantime  the  Portuguese  Vasco  da  Gama  had 
rounded  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  opened  the  road  to 
the  East  Indies.  Diego  Lepe  doubled  Cape  St.  Augustine 
and  explored  the  coast  beyond  it  to  the  southwest.  In 
1 50 1,  Rodrigo  de  Bastidas  and  Juan  de  la  Cosa  doubled 
Cape  Vela  and  added  some  three  hundred  miles  to  the 
known  coast/line.  Their  discoveries  included  the  Gulf  of 
Darien  where  a  few  years  later  the  port  of  Nombre  de  Dios 
was  established. 

That  this  record  of  successful  navigation  and  discovery 
was  possible  within  so  few  years  and  with  vessels  of  so 
small  a  size  is  a  marvel,  and  that  more  were  not  lost  is  testis 
mony  to  the  high  courage  and  expert  seamanship  of  these 
early  voyagers. 

Tidings  of  the  great  West  Indian  adventure  of  Spain 
awoke  in  the  other  countries  of  Europe  a  spirit  of  emula/ 
tion.  Lethargic  England  as  well  as  Portugal  entered  the 
race  for  a  share  in  the  wealth  of  the  New  World.  The 
Cabots,  Venetians  who  had  settled  at  Bristol,  explored 
jfrom  Labrador  southward,  but  were  obliged  to  return  to 
Bristol  before  reaching  the  West  Indies.  At  the  end  of  the 


10        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

first  decade  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon 
had  settled  and  established  a  firm  government  on  the  is^ 
land  of  Puerto  Rico,  which  had  been  discovered  by  Co/ 
lumbus  on  his  second  voyage.  Juan  Diaz  de  Solis  and 
Vicente  Pinzon  explored  Yucatan. 

Up  to  1509,  the  excitements  of  discovery  and  the  re/ 
wards  of  casual  looting  had  so  occupied  the  explorers  that 
no  organized  attempt  had  been  made  to  establish  settle/ 
ments  in  a  large  way  or  to  organize  a  comprehensive  sys/ 
tem  of  government.  In  1509,  de  Ojeda,  accompanied  by 
Vasco  Nuiiez  de  Balboa,  de  la  Cosa,  and  Pizarro — men  des/ 
tined  to  later  play  a  great  part  in  the  development  of  re/ 
gions  outside  of  the  Caribbean  Sea — took  part  in  an 
expedition  to  establish  settlements  on  the  mainland.  Fer/ 
dinand  granted  titles  and  patents  with  a  generous  hand. 
Ojeda  was  made  Governor  of  all  the  country  between  Cape 
Vela  and  the  Gulf  of  Darien,  and  Diego  de  Nicuesa,  who 
had  gained  wealth  and  experience  in  Hispaniola,  was  made 
Governor  of  the  country  between  Darien  and  Cape  Gracias 
a  Dios.  These  two  long  stretches  of  coast  became  known 
as  the  Spanish  Main. 

In  15  ID,  Diego  Velazquez  conquered  the  island  of 
Cuba.  Two  years  later.  Ponce  de  Leon  fitted  out  an  ex/ 
pedition  in  Puerto  Rico  and  explored  Florida.  The  Gulf 
of  Mexico  was  quite  fully  explored  by  de  Piiieda.  Vasco 
Nuiiez  de  Balboa,  who  had  accompanied  de  Ojeda,  had 
been  made  Governor  of  a  small  settlement  at  Darien  and 


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THE  EARLY  NAVIGATORS  ii 

had  heard  stories  of  the  great  sea  beyond  the  land.  With 
a  considerable  company  and  great  difficulty  he  crossed  the 
isthmus  and  found  a  great  ocean,  of  which  he  took  pos/ 
session  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  Spain.  On  account  of 
the  east/and/west  direction  of  the  two  coasts  of  the  isth/ 
mus,  Balboa  reached  the  Pacific  by  travelling  southward, 
and  not  unnaturally  named  his  discovery  the  South  Sea. 
A  few  years  later  when  Magellan  reached  the  same  ocean, 
he  named  it  the  Pacific. 

In  the  company  of  Velazquez  when  he  conquered  Cuba 
had  been  Hernan  Cortez  who  was  destined  to  become 
perhaps  the  best  known,  both  for  his  conquests  and  his 
cruelties,  of  any  of  the  Spanish  conquerors.  In  151 8,  with 
a  large  expedition  he  began  the  subjugation  of  Mexico. 
It  required  nearly  three  years  to  completely  overcome  the 
powerful  Montezuma. 

About  this  period  (1524),  Francisco  Pizarro  began  his 
exploration  of  the  West  Coast  which  finally  resulted  in 
the  expedition  which  a  few  years  later  accomplished  the 
conquest  of  the  great  empire  of  the  Incas  called  Peru. 

In  the  decade  between  1530  and  1540,  the  work  of 
conquest  and  occupation  progressed  without  interruption. 
Nueva  Granada,  made  up  of  what  is  now  Colombia  and 
Venezuela,  were  added  to  the  Spanish  dominions.  The 
important  cities  of  Cartagena  and  Santa  Marta  were 
founded  and  some  semblance  to  an  organized  government 
maintained.  Development  or  commerce  in  the  proper 


12        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

meanings  of  the  words  did  not,  however,  take  place. 
Plundering  of  the  conquered  Indians  was  the  only  estab/ 
lished  business. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  those  responsible  for  the  most 
important  discoveries  of  the  Christian  era  should  have 
been  guilty  of  atrocious  and  unnecessary  cruelties.  Even 
measured  by  the  standards  of  the  time,  the  treatment  of 
the  native  peoples  was  inhuman  and  wanton  in  its  barbar/ 
ities.  In  many  places  the  native  population  was  almost  an/ 
nihilated. 

Oviedo  in  describing  the  malignant  cruelties  practised 
by  Governor  Pediarias  and  his  Lieutenant,  Juan  de  Ayora, 
at  Darien  says :  "  In  this  expedition  Juan  de  Ayora  not  only 
"omitted  the  requisitions  and  summoning  which  it  was 
**  his  duty  to  make  to  the  Indians  before  attacking  them, 
"but  took  them  by  surprise  at  night,  torturing  the  ca/ 
"  ciques  and  chiefs,  demanding  gold  from  them.  Some  he 
"roasted  alive,  some  were  thrown  living  to  the  dogs,  some 
"were  hanged,  and  for  others  were  designed  new  forms 
"of  torture.  Their  wives  and  daughters  were  made  slaves 
"and  divided  according  to  the  pleasure  of  de  Ayora  and 
"  the  other  captains." 

These  frightful  cruelties  did  not  take  place  without 
protest.  The  Dominican  friar,  Bartolome  de  las  Casas, 
whose  contemporaneous  account  of  the  behaviour  of  his 
companions,  taken  with  the  histories  recorded  by  Peter 
Martyr  and  Herrera,  make  what  is  probably  the  most 


.  THE  EARLY  NAVIGATORS  13 

authentic  record  of  the  events  and  spirit  of  the  time,  de/ 
voted  himself  to  the  amelioration  of  the  lot  of  the  afflicted 
Indians. 

His  accounts  made  a  deep  impression,  not  only  in  Spain, 
but  over  the  rest  of  Europe.*  In  1 542,  because  of  his  rep/ 
resentation  to  Carlos  V,  a  ro)ral  commission  w^as  called  to/ 
gether  at  Valladolid  to  devise  a  better  system  of  govern/ 
ment  for  the  West  Indies.  Many  reforms  were  promulgated, 
but  few  were  enforced.  Mixed  with  the  stories  of  limit/ 
less  treasure  the  piteous  appeal  of  LasCasas  reached  Eng/ 
land  and  increased  the  hatred  of  Spain.  During  the  last 
half  of  the  sixteenth  century  England  began  to  play  her 
part  in  the  Caribbean. 

Frobisher,  Davis,  Gilbert,  and  others  had  gained  re/ 
nown  for  themselves  and  territory  for  England  in  the 
North.  Hawkins,  Drake,  Raleigh,  and  the  other  great  sea/ 
men  and  pioneers  of  Elizabethan  England  found  ample 
scope  for  their  adventurous  spirit  to  contest  the  claim  of 
Spain  to  dominion  over  the  New  World. 

When  Elizabethan  England  finally  awoke  to  the  call 
of  the  New  World,  her  navigators  showed  a  daring  and 
persistency  which  made  of  England  a  gradually  increas/ 
ing  participator  in  the  territory  and  wealth  of  the  Carib/ 
bean.  The  narratives  of  the  early  voyages  of  Hawkins  and 
of  Drake,  minutely  reported  by  them  and  by  men  of  their 

*  Breuissima  Relacion  de  la  destruycibn  de  las  Indias,    By  B.  de  las  Casas 
(•55»)- 


14        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

companies,  are  not  only  crowded  with  the  accounts  of 
dangers  overcome  and  battles  fought,  but  are  full  of  inter/ 
esting  descriptions  of  the  lands  visited  and  their  inhabit/ 
ants. 

On  his  second  voyage  John  Hawkins  (afterwards  Sir 
John  Hawkins)  left  Plymouth  in  the  autumn  of  1564  with 
one  ship  of  seven  hundred  tons,  one  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  tons,  and  two  of  fifty  and  thirty  tons,  respectively. 

His  total  company  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  seventy 
men.  He  proceeded  to  the  coast  of  Africa  to  take  on  board 
a  cargo  of  negroes  to  be  sold  as  slaves  in  the  West  Indies. 
It  was  not  until  March,  1565,  that  he  touched  at  Domin/ 
ica  in  the  West  Indies  and  at  various  smaller  islands  in 
that  neighbourhood.  He  was  not  given  a  hospitable  recep/ 
tion,  and  the  Spanish  Viceroy  at  Hispaniola,  advised  of 
his  arrival  within  the  proscribed  seas,  directed  that  there 
should  be  no  traffic  with  Hawkins,  ordering  the  use  of 
force  against  him  if  necessary. 

At  the  small  island  of  Cumana  he  was  able  to  obtain 
provisions  from  the  natives,  whom  he  described  as  tract/ 
able,  and  as  excellent  archers  using  arrows  tipped  with 
poison  in  warfare. 

In  April  he  touched  the  coast  of  Venezuela,  but,  fail/ 
ing  to  secure  a  license  to  sell  his  negroes  by  friendly  ne/ 
gotiations,  he  landed  one  hundred  men  armed  with  *  *  bows, 
**  arrows,  arquebuses  and  pikes,"  and  marched  toward  the 
town  of  Barbarotta  where  the  Spanish  Governor  was  res/ 


THE  EARLY  NAVIGATORS  15 

ident.  The  local  garrison  was  not  prepared  to  resist  and 
without  actual  fighting  a  permit  to  trade  was  obtained. 
From  there  he  sailed  along  the  coast  to  Cape  Vela  and  to 
Rio  de  la  Hacha.  At  this  latter  point  another  display  of 
force  was  required  to  make  it  possible  to  trade.  At  the  end 
of  May  he  continued  his  voyage  cruising  around  Jamaica, 
Cuba,  and  the  Florida  coast,  arriving  home  some  eleven 
months  from  the  date  of  his  departure  from  Plymouth. 

Three  years  later,  with  the  same  flagship  (the  **  Jesus 
"  of  Lubeck  ")  and  five  smaller  vessels,  he  again  visited  the 
West  Indies  with  another  and  larger  cargo  of  slaves.  His 
difficulties  had  increased,  however,  because  the  King  of 
Spain  had  himself  forbidden  traffic  with  Hawkins  and  the 
Spanish  settlements  were  better  prepared  to  resist  him. 
At  Rio  de  la  Hacha  he  disposed  of  a  part  of  his  cargo ; 
but  at  Cartagena  the  resistance  was  too  great  for  him  to 
attempt  to  overcome  it  and  he  sailed  thence  for  Florida. 
Storms  drove  him  to  seek  shelter  in  one  of  the  Mexican 
harbours  from  whence  he  only  got  away  after  many  vi/ 
cissitudes  and  much  fighting  with  the  Spanish  garrison. 
Finally  he  returned  home  through  the  Bahamas. 

With  Hawkins  on  this  last  voyage,  in  command  of  the 
«*  Judith,"  had  been  Francis  Drake.  It  is  said  that  Drake 
a  few  years  later  was  shown  by  Indians  from  a  tree^top  on 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama  a  view  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and 
that  he  there  and  then  resolved  to  be  the  first  English/ 
man  to  sail  upon  its  waters.  The  voyage,  which  he  began 


i6        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

in  1577  with  a  fleet  of  five  vessels  was  destined  to  realize 
his  ambition. 

The  account  of  this  voyage,  written  by  Francis  Petty, 
one  of  Drake's  crew,  and  included  in  Hakluyt's  collection 
of  "Voyages,"  is  one  which  cannot  fail  to  enliven  the 
spirit  of  adventure  in  the  most  lethargic  reader.  After  a 
stop  at  the  Cape  de  Verde  islands,  he  reached  and  explored 
the  coast  of  Brazil,  entered  the  River  Plate,  and  proceeded 
southward  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  After  passing  through 
the  Straits,  he  sailed  northward  along  the  coast,  touching 
at  the  Peruvian  ports  all  of  which  he  found  unfortified. 
Laden  with  rich  booty,  he  determined  to  cross  the  Pa/ 
cific,  but  first  went  as  far  north  as  California.  He  then  ac/ 
complished  the  extraordinary  feat  of  reaching  home  by 
rounding  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The  time  required  for 
the  whole  exploit  was  within  a  few  days  of  three  years. 

In  1 585,  he  began  his  great  West  Indian  venture  which 
included  the  looting  of  Cartagena  to  which  incident  a  spe/ 
cial  chapter  is  devoted.  Nine  years  after  his  return  home 
from  this  undertaking,  Drake  and  Hawkins  jointly  under/ 
took  the  conquest  of  the  Isthmus,  a  project  which,  their 
crews  weakened  by  sickness,  they  were  forced  to  abandon 
when,  on  arrival,  they  found  the  increased  strength  of  the 
fortifications  made  the  attempt  useless. 

This  last  was  an  unhappy  voyage  ;  Hawkins  died  off 
Puerto  Rico  and  Drake  off  Puerto  Bello.  These  two  men 
were  pioneers  in  the  trade  of  legalized  or  commissioned 


THE  EARLY  NAVIGATORS  17 

piracy.  Their  example  helped  give  birth  to  a  new  and 
virile  band  called  "buccaneers,"  a  name  derived  from  the 
term  applied  to  the  sun/dried  or  bucan  beef  used  by  the 
filibusters  to  provision  their  vessels  and  w^hich  was  dried 
on  poles  or  slats  called  **  bucans." 

To  secure  to  herself  the  full  fruits  of  conquest,  Spain, 
as  has  been  noted,  was  resolved  to  exclude  all  foreigners. 
Rich  as  were  the  new  countries  in  gold  and  other  valua/ 
ble  cargoes,  the  stories  which  reached  Europe  enlarged 
on  facts  which  were  in  themselves  enough  to  fire  the  envy 
and  cupidity  of  the  other  nations.  Quarrels  based  chiefly 
on  differences  of  religion  already  had  bred  in  England  a 
hatred  of  Spain.  The  natural  intolerance  had  been  fanned 
to  fever  heat  by  the  persecution  of  English  sailors  by  the 
Spanish  Inquisition.  Intolerable  cruelties  were  practised 
which  encouraged  reprisals.  If  to  torture  and  burn  here/ 
tics  were  an  act  of  grace  from  the  Spanish  point  of  view, 
it  was  equally  commendable  on  the  part  of  an  honourable 
English  Protestant  to  scuttle  a  Papist  ship  or  lay  waste  a 
Spanish  settlement  in  the  New  World. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  defeat  of  the  great  Armada, 
Spain  was  powerful  in  home  waters  as  well  as  in  the  West 
Indies,  and  the  opportunities  to  successfully  contest  her 
supremacy  in  the  Caribbean  were  few ;  but  the  defeat  of 
the  Armada  in  1588  and  the  consequent  decline  of  the 
sea/power  of  Spain  opened  the  path  across  the  sea. 

United  by  a  common  antipathy  to  Spain  and  by  an 


i8        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

universal  and  natural  desire  for  gain,  the  adventurous  sea/ 
men  of  England,  France,  and  the  Low  Countries  soon 
made  a  formidable  group  determined  to  share  in  the  rich 
booty  of  the  Spanish  Main.  In  the  beginning  their  acts 
w^ere  those  of  ordinary  piracy ;  but  out  of  the  heteroge/ 
neous  band  there  developed  in  due  course  a  half^organized, 
semi/legalized  horde  of  buccaneers  who  played  an  import 
tant  if  somewhat  violent  part  in  the  contest  for  the  su/ 
premacy  of  the  Caribbean.  Among  these  buccaneers  or 
filibusters  were  many  men  who  displayed  great  ability,  val/ 
our,  and  seamanship.  Chivalry  and  worthy  enterprise 
were  no  less  common  than  robbery  and  cruelty.  Both  the 
great  navigator  and  writer  Dampier  and  Sir  Henry  Mor/ 
gan  were  buccaneers,  as  were  de  Pointis  and  Du  Casse. 

The  period  during  which  the  buccaneers  were  an  im/ 
portant  factor  in  lessening  the  power  of  Spain  and  increas/ 
ing  the  authority  of  England  in  the  New  World  extended 
to  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  after  the  Treaty  of 
Ryswick  in  1697,  the  opportunity  for  legitimate  piracy 
so  seldom  occurred  that  the  calling  no  longer  attracted 
the  great  navigators,  and  those  left  soon  turned  into  com/ 
mon  rogues  and  murderers,  the  mere  dregs  of  an  associa/ 
tion  which  had  given  a  place  in  history  to  many  great 
names. 

The  name  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  is  so  prominently  as/ 
sociated  with  the  settlement  of  Virginia  that  the  part  he 
played  in  the  West  Indies  is  often  overlooked.  After  the 


THE  EARLY  NAVIGATORS  19 

failure  of  his  first  two  attempts  at  colonization  in  Virginia, 
Raleigh  in  1595,  enticed  by  the  successes  of  his  country/ 
men,  planned  an  expedition  to  Guiana. 

Guiana  was  the  name  given  by  the  Conquistadores  to 
the  vast  and  unknown  country  forming  the  watershed  of 
the  Orinoco.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  tales 
of  fabulous  beauty  and  richness  of  this  unexplored  region. 
Ordaz,  an  ofBcer  under  Pizarro,  had  earned  temporary 
fame  by  an  apocryphal  account  of  a  great  city  which  he 
claimed  to  have  found,  called  Manoa,  and  ruled  by  a  de/ 
scendant  of  the  Incas.  Other  travellers  had  even  described 
its  palace  and  temple  as  visible  from  the  distance,  but  not 
actually  reached  by  them.  Almost  coincident  with  the 
exploration  by  Raleigh  early  in  1595,  Antonio  de  Berreo, 
the  Spanish  Governor  of  Trinidad,  entered  the  region  sup/ 
posed  to  contain  the  great  city  of  Manoa  by  way  of  Nueva 
Granada,  and  came  down  the  Orinoco  River.  For  almost 
a  century  the  chimera  of  El  Dorado  influenced  the  ex/ 
plorations  and  inflamed  the  greed  and  animosities  of  the 
explorers  of  Nueva  Granada  and  Guiana. 

Raleigh's  expedition  was  made  up  of  five  ships  with  a 
total  of  one  hundred  men.  A  large  amount  of  the  country 
was  explored,  but  the  mythical  city  was  not  found.  The 
reports  of  these  explorations  are  of  great  interest,  but  lack 
historical  value  on  account  of  the  constant  confusion  of 
the  records  of  facts  with  the  unconfirmed  rumours  to 
which  the  travellers  gave  credence. 


20        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

Raleigh  was  successful,  however,  in  overcoming  the 
Spanish  garrison  at  Trinidad  and  the  coast  towns,  secur/ 
ing  enough  booty  to  encourage  him  to  make  further  ex/ 
plorations.  In  the  following  year  he  explored  the  coast 
between  the  rivers  Orinoco  and  Amazon ;  and  it  was  not 
until  1 617  that  Raleigh  finally  gave  up  his  hope  to  make 
of  Guiana  a  rival  of  Mexico  and  Peru.  In  that  year  with 
a  squadron  of  twelve  ships  he  again  sailed  for  Guiana,  at/ 
tacked  and  subdued  San  Tome,  but  was  obliged  to  return 
to  England  without  the  accomplishment  of  his  object. 

Spain  laid  claims  upon  King  James  on  account  of  this 
attack  by  Raleigh,  and  despite  the  evidence  that  the  latter 
had  the  full  support  of  the  King,  Raleigh  was  sacrificed 
to  what  was  believed  to  be  political  expediency  and  his 
expedition  in  effect  disowned. 

The  history  of  Guiana  was  not  finished,  however;  for 
years  five  nations  fought  for  its  control :  Spain,  Portugal, 
France,  England,  and  Holland. 

In  the  end  it  was  divided  among  the  five.  The  wars 
of  rebellion  ended  the  sovereignty  of  the  first  two ;  the 
other  three  still  survive,  interesting  souvenirs  of  the 
early  struggles. 

The  island  of  Jamaica,  which  in  due  course  became 
the  chief  British  possession  in  the  West  Indies,  did  not 
offer  the  same  lure  to  the  Spanish  as  did  the  islands  of 
Cuba  and  Hispaniola  and  the  mines  of  the  Mainland.  The 
island  was,  however,  settled  by  the  Spanish,  with  some 


§ 


PQ 


THE  EARLY  NAVIGATORS  21 

admixture  of  Portuguese,  and  early  in  the  sixteenth  cen/ 
tury  St.  Jago  de  la  Vega,  now  Spanish  Town,  was  founded 
and  became  a  city  of  some  importance.  At  the  close  of 
that  century  Sir  Anthony  Shirley  landed  a  force,  looted 
the  island,  and  burnt  St.  Jago  de  la  Vega.  Again,  in  1643, 
Captain  William  Jackson  with  three  ships  did  some  plun^ 
dering ;  but  it  was  not  until  an  expedition  consisting  of 
some  thirty/eight  ships  and  eight  thousand  men,  under 
Penn  and  Venables,  attacked  the  island  in  1655  that  it  was 
actually  conquered  by  the  English. 

Following  Penn  and  Venables  came  Admiral  Myngs, 
and  shortly  afterwards  Sir  Henry  Morgan,  both  of  whom 
used  Jamaica  as  a  base  for  their  exploits. 

The  full  history  of  explorations  and  settlements  made 
by  the  Spaniards  and  by  the  Elizabethan  seamen  in  the 
Caribbean  Sea  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  this  small 
book.  Its  purpose  is  rather  to  indicate  the  general  scope 
of  the  early  discoveries,  the  gradual  development  from  a 
region  given  over  to  a  trade  based  on  forced  plundering  to 
an  orderly  and  productive  part  of  the  world,  and  in  partic/ 
ular  to  record  those  critical  events  which  finally  resulted 
in  the  sea^mastery  of  the  Caribbean  by  maritime  England. 

The  adventure  of  Spain  in  exploring  and  colonizing 
the  New  World  has  no  parallel  in  history.  It  is  unfortu^ 
nate  that  the  picture  of  her  extraordinary  triumphs  is 
blurred  by  the  record  of  her  cruelties ;  but  the  magnificent 
result  remains.  During  the  one  hundred  and  fifteen  years 


22        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

prior  to  the  settlement  of  Jamestown  in  1607,  the  whole 
of  the  West  Indies,  and  the  greater  parts  of  South  and  Cen/ 
tral  Americas  were  brought  under  Spanish  control,  forti/ 
fied  cities  biiilt,  and  the  various  agencies  of  State  and 
Church  government  installed. 

The  vice/regal  establishments  at  Lima  and  in  Mexico 
were  second  only  to  the  Court  at  Madrid  in  brilliancy  and 
magnificence.  The  fortifications  at  Cartagena,  at  Panama, 
and  in  Hispaniola  are  of  a  size  and  strength  which  make 
of  them  to/day  an  indisputable  record  of  marvellous  ac/ 
complishment. 

The  Spanish  temperament  was  not,  however,  fitted  for 
the  task  to  keep  and  foster  what  had  been  won.  Rendered 
weak  through  over^'confidence  in  her  strength  and  through 
certain  inherent  faults  of  her  own  civilization,  Spanish 
power  in  both  the  Old  and  New  World  was  weakened, 
until  finally  in  the  nineteenth  century  the  rebellion  of  her 
own  colonies  ended  her  dominion  in  the  New  World. 


CHAPTER  II 

SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE 

WHEN  Drake  began  his  voyage  around  the  world 
in  1577,  Spain  had  the  effective  control  of  all  of 
those  parts  of  the  American  continents  which  had  proven 
to  be  a  source  of  wealth  to  Europe. 

Protestant  England  under  Elizabeth  longed  not  only 
for  a  share  of  the  rich  plunder  which  the  exploitation 
of  the  New  World  was  gaining  for  Spain,  but  also  for  an 
opportunity  to  cross  swords  with  Catholicism.  On  both 
sides  the  adventurous  spirit  was  strangely  mixed  with  re/ 
ligious  enthusiasm.  Prayers  and  piracy  were  closely,  and 
often  with  sincerity,  blended.  The  fact  that  no  commerce 
except  with  Spain  was  permitted  in  the  New  World  made 
trade  by  English  ships  and  men  possible  only  when  carried 
on  by  privateers  or  armed  vessels.  The  inevitable  result  of 
these  conditions  was  that  English  ships  ostensibly  fitted 
for  trade  turned  to  plundering  the  rich  galleons  of  Spain, 
giving  rise  to  reprisals  with  terrible  excesses  on  both  sides. 

Upon  Drake's  return  from  his  great  voyage  around  the 
world,  begun  in  1577  and  ended  in  1580,  he  was  received 
with  great  enthusiasm  by  both  Queen  and  country.  On 
this  voyage  he  had  sacked  the  unguarded  coast  towns  of 
Peru  and  Chili,  and  it  is  said  returned  with  over  half  a 
million  sterling  of  treasure  taken  chiefly  from  the  Span/ 


24        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

ish  possessions.  That  Drake  himself  was  knighted  and  his 
company  feted  by  all  England,  was  not  unnaturally  received 
as  an  insult  by  Philip,  and  added  fuel  to  the  flames  of  war 
already  kindled.  There  could  be  now  no  further  question 
of  conciliating  Spain,  and  every  effort  was  made  by  Eliza/ 
beth  and  her  sailor  counsellors  to  build  up  a  naval  estab/ 
lishment  of  a  strength  equal  to  that  of  Philip,  whose  naval 
power  had  been  almost  doubled  by  the  failure  of  the  royal 
line  of  Portugal  which  had  brought  the  domination  of 
that  country  under  the  Spanish  Crown.  To  make  havoc 
with  the  Spanish  possessions  in  the  New  World  appealed 
to  both  the  political  sagacity  of  the  Queen  and  to  the  busi/ 
ness^ike  judgment  of  those  imbued  with  the  buccaneer 
spirit  of  the  age. 

It  has  been  necessary  to  refer  again  briefly  to  the  gen/ 
eral  conditions  affecting  England  and  Spain  at  the  time 
of  the  expedition  against  Cartagena  and  other  towns  of 
the  Spanish  Main,  in  order  to  understand  the  motives  of 
an  attack  which  has  been  variously  described  as  a  great 
legitimate  naval  expedition  and  as  a  series  of  wanton  pirat/ 
ical  seizures. 

Few  men  whose  deeds  have  played  such  an  important 
and  forceful  part  in  actual  events,  have  had  associated  with 
their  names  so  much  of  almost  legendary  romanticism  as 
has  that  of  Francis  Drake.  Knighted  and  made  an  admiral 
by  Elizabeth,  and  dubbed  a  pirate  by  the  Spaniards,  he 
was  in  truth  a  mixture  of  the  great  soldier-^admiral  and  the 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  25 

adventurous  buccaneer.  His  father,  Edmund  Drake,  is 
said  to  have  been  at  one  time  a  sailor,  but  whether  this  is 
true  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  he  had  become  vicar  of  Up/ 
church,  living  near  Tavistock,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Earl  of  Bedford.  It  was  the  earl's  son,  Francis  Russell,  who 
endowed  the  son  born  to  Edmund  Drake  with  his  own 
name. 

Francis  Drake  was  born  about  1545.  His  early  associa^ 
tions  were  strongly  anti/Catholic.  As  a  boy  he  was  ap/ 
prenticed  to  the  master  and  owner  of  a  small  Channel 
coasting  vessel,  and  appears  to  have  been  treated  as  a  son 
by  the  master,  who  upon  his  death,  which  happened 
shortly,  left  the  vessel  to  him. 

Sir  John  Hawkins,  said  by  some  to  have  been  a  kins/ 
man  of  Drake,  had  been  early  engaged  in  the  slave/trade 
and  in  trading  expeditions  to  the  West  Indies.  In  1567, 
on  his  third  expedition  to  which  reference  is  made  in  the 
first  chapter,  he  visited  the  Spanish  Main,  and  succeeded 
in  landing  and  selling  his  negroes  at  Rio  de  la  Hacha  only 
after  overcoming  armed  resistance.  He  finally  at  Carta/ 
gena  abandoned  this  commerce.  This  voyage  was  in  many 
respects  unfortunate,  and  it  was  also  alleged  that  many 
acts  of  bad  faith  on  the  part  of  the  Spaniards  brought  great 
hardships,  sufferings,  and  death  to  many  of  Hawkins's  un/ 
happy  companions.  Hawkins  himself  says  in  his  account 
of  the  expedition:  **If  all  the  miseries  and  troublesome 
"  affairs  of  this  sorrowful  voyage  should  be  perfectly  and 


26        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

"thoroughly  written,  "there  should  need  "a  painful  man 
"with  his  pen,  and  as  great  a  time  as  he  had  that  wrote 
"the  lives  and  deaths  of  the  martyrs." 

Great  indignation  was  felt  in  England  over  the  mis-' 
haps  of  this  voyage  and  the  treatment  of  the  voyagers  by 
the  Spaniards.  Drake  had  taken  part  in  this  expedition  in 
command  of  the  "Judith."  He  had  previously  sold  his 
own  little  coaster  and  used  the  proceeds,  with  his  other 
earnings,  for  the  proper  outfitting  for  this  voyage  with 
Hawkins.  Drake  lost  everything  in  this  unhappy  venture, 
from  which  he  barely  escaped  with  his  life,  and  became  an 
ardent  supporter  of  the  doctrine,  soon  popular  in  England, 
that  it  was  lawful  to  recover  from  the  Spaniards  that  which 
their  treachery  had  taken  from  the  English  traders. 

In  1570,  Drake  again  went  to  the  West  Indies,  this 
time  with  two  ships,  the  "Dragon"  and  the  "Swan," 
and  again  in  157 1  with  the  "  Swan"  alone.  These  voy/ 
ages  appear  to  have  been  mainly  to  acquire  information, 
or  at  least,  that  appears  to  have  been  their  chief  result. 
With  the  experience  gained  by  these  two  voyages  and  the 
previous  one  with  Hawkins,  he  sailed  from  Plymouth  in 
May,  1572,  with  the  "Pacha "of  seventy  tons,  and 
"Swan"  of  twenty/five  tons,  with  total  crews  of  seventy/ 
three  men  and  boys.  By  the  end  of  July  he  reached  Nom/ 
bre  de  Dios,  and  after  a  sharp  but  brief  engagement,  in 
which  he  himself  was  wounded,  captured  the  town.  From 
Nombre  de  Dios  he  sailed  along  the  coast  toward  Carta/ 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  27 

gena,  capturing  several  well/laden  vessels  on  the  way ;  but 
making  no  stop  of  consequence  until  he  arrived  at  the 
Isthmus  of  Darien.  There  he  found  settlements  of  the 
Cimarrones  (or  Maroons),  negroes  who  had  escaped  from 
slavery,  with  whom  he  entered  into  intercourse  and  by 
the  chief  of  whom  he  was  shown,  from  a  "  goodly  and 
"  great  high  tree  "on  a  commanding  height,  a  sight  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  Drake  is  reported  to  have  "besought 
**  Almighty  God  of  his  goodness  to  give  him  life  and  leave 
**  to  sail  in  an  English  ship  on  that  sea."  This  same  chief 
guided  and  helped  in  an  expedition  overland  to  intercept 
the  trains  of  mules  which  brought  treasure  from  Panama 
to  Nombre  de  Dios.  Beyond  taking  possession  of  a  small 
town  on  the  road  and  destroying  some  property,  the  ex/ 
pedition  appears  to  have  been  fruitless,  and  it  was  only 
after  great  hardships  and  dangers  that  Drake  and  his  men 
regained  their  ships.  He  returned  to  Plymouth  from  this 
voyage  on  August  9, 1573,  somewhat  enriched,  but  with 
his  ambition  in  no  way  satisfied.  A  valorous  and  venture/ 
some  seaman  named  John  Oxenham,  whose  name  is 
closely  associated  with  the  stirring  events  of  that  day  on 
the  Caribbean  Uttoral,  had  served  under  Drake  in  this 
expedition.  About  two  years  later,  Oxenham,  with  one 
ship  and  seventy  men,  retraced  the  course  of  Drake  to  Da/ 
rien  with  the  objea  of  intercepting  one  of  the  richly  la/ 
den  mule  trains  from  Panama.  He  was  informed  by  the 
Cimarrones  that  the  trains  were  now  accompanied  by  a 


28        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

strong  guard,  and  abandoned  this  plan ;  but,  helped  by  a  few 
of  the  Cimarrones,  he  marched  to  the  Pacific  side,  built 
himself  a  small  pinnace,  and  gained  the  distinction  of  be/ 
ing  the  first  Englishman  to  sail  upon  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
In  December,  1577,  Drake  started  on  his  great  tripof  cir/ 
cum/navigation,  already  referred  to,  with  a  fleet  consist/ 
ing  of  the  **  Pelican  "  and  four  smaller  vessels,  with  a  total 
complement  of  one  hundred  and  sixty/four  men.  That  the 
plans  for  this  voyage  had  the  full,  if  secret,  concurrence 
of  the  Queen,  there  seems  little  doubt,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  one  of  its  real  if  not  avowed  objects  was  to 
prey  upon  the  colonies  of  a  nation  with  which  techni/ 
cal  peace  existed.  The  story  of  this  voyage  has  no  place 
here,  but  its  great  success  fi*om  both  a  naval  and  **  profit/ 
sharing"  standpoint,  and  the  enthusiasm  with  which 
the  voyagers  were  received  on  their  return  in  September, 
1580,  "  richly  fraught  with  gold,  silver,  silk,  pearls,  and 
*<  precious  stones,*'  added  greatly  to  the  prestige  of  Drake. 

For  the  next  four  years  Drake  remained  in  England ; 
he  became  Mayor  of  Plymouth  for  a  brief  period  and 
then  entered  Parliament  as  member  for  Bossiney. 

Early  in  1585,  Elizabeth  could  no  longer  blind  herself 
to  the  certainty  of  the  intention  of  Spain  to  attack  Eng/ 
land.  A  fleet  of  English  ships  laden  with  corn  had  been 
unfairly  seized,  and  swift  retribution  was  planned.  Under 
letters  of  marque,  Drake  gathered  about  him  at  Plymouth 
the  most  formidable  squadron  of  privateers  ever  brought 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  29 

together,*  consisting  of  twenty/five  ships  with  a  total  of 
twenty/three  hundred  sailors  and  soldiers.  His  vice^admi/ 

♦  The  following  is  an  extract  from  an  account  published  by  Thomas  Gates, 
entitled:  **  A  summarie  and  true  discourse  of  Sir  Francis  Drake's  West  In- 
dian voyage,  begun  in  the  yeere  1585." 

This  worthy  knight  for  the  service  of  his  Prince  and  countrey  having  prepared 
his  whole  fleete,  and  gotten  them  down  to  Plimmouth  in  Devonshire,  to  the 
number  of  five  and  twenty  saile  of  ships  and  pinnesses,  and  having  assembled  of 
souldiers  and  mariners,  to  the  number  of  2300  in  the  whole,  embarked  them  and 
himselfe  at  Plimmouth  aforesaid,  the  1 2  day  of  September  1585,  being  accom- 
panied with  these  men  of  name  and  charge,  which  hereafter  follow: 

Master  Christopher  Carleil  Lieutenant  General,  a  man  of  long  experience  in 
the  warres  as  well  by  sea  as  land,  who  had  formerly  carried  high  offices  in  both 
kindes  in  many  fights,  which  he  discharged  alwaies  very  happily,  and  with  great 
good  reputation. 

Anthonie  Powel  Sergeant  Major 

Captaine  Matthew  Morgan,  and  Captaine  John  Sampson,  Corporals  of  the 
field. 

These  officers  had  commandement  over  the  rest  of  the  land-Captaines,  whose 
names  hereafter  follow : 

Captaine  Anthony  Plat,  Captaine  John  Merchant, 

Captaine  Edward  Winter,  Captaine  William  Cecill, 

Captaine  John  Goring,  Captaine  Walter  Bigs, 

Captaine  Robert  Pew,  Captaine  John  Hannam, 

Captaine  George  Barton,  Captaine  Richard  Stanton. 

Captaine  Martine  Frobisher  Viceadmirall,  a  man  of  great  experience  in  sea- 
faring actions,  who  had  caried  the  chiefe  charge  of  many  ships  himselfe,  in  sun- 
dry voyages  before,  being  now  shipped  in  the  Primrose. 

Captaine  Francis  KnoUes,  Reereadmirall  in  the  Galeon  Leicester. 

Master  Thomas  Vennor,  Captaine  in  the  Elizabeth  Bonadventure  under  the 
Generall. 

Master  Edward  Winter,  Captaine  in  the  Aide. 

Master  Christopher  Carleil  the  Lieutenant  generall,  Captaine  of  the  Tygar. 

Henry  White,  Captaine  of  the  sea  Dragon. 

'Thomas  Drake,  Captaine  of  the  Thomas. 

Thomas  Seelie,  Captaine  of  the  Minion. 

Bally,  Captaine  of  the  Barke  Talbot. 

Robert  Crosse,  Captaine  of  the  Bark  Bond. 


30        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

ral  was  the  doughty  Martin  Frobisher;  his  rear^'admiral, 
Francis  KnoUys;  Lieutenant-'General  Christopher  Carleill 
was  in  command  of  the  ten  companies  of  land  troops  in/ 
eluded  in  the  complement. 

The  fleet  sailed  from  Plymouth  on  the  twelfth  of  Sep/ 
tember,  1585.  After  threatening  Bayona  and  Vigo,  and 
by  his  promptness  and  courage  doing  much  to  injure  the 
morale  of  the  Spanish  naval  defences,  Drake  proceeded  to 
the  Cape  de  Verde  Islands.  There  he  took  almost  unop/ 
posed  possession  of  the  chief  town,  Santiago,  and  plun/ 
dered  the  islands  for  provisions  and  anything  of  value. 
From  there  he  began  his  voyage  toward  the  West  Indies 
with  the  greatest  armament  which  had  ever  crossed  the 
Atlantic.  His  plan  was  to  weaken  Spain  by  cutting  oflF  the 
chief  sources  of  her  wealth  in  the  New  World  and  to 
strengthen  England  by  obtaining  the  mastery  of  the  rich 
Caribbean  ports  from  which  it  seemed  a  limitless  stream 
of  gold  could  be  made  to  flow  into  the  Old  World. 

During  the  voyage  to  the  West  Indies  the  men  suffered 
severe  losses  from  deaths  due  to  an  infectious  sickness,  and 

George  Fortescue,  Captaine  of  the  Barke  Bonner. 

Edward  Carelesse,  Captaine  of  the  Hope. 

James  Erizo,  Captaine  of  the  White  Lyon. 

Thomas  Moone,  Captaine  of  the  Vantage. 

John  Vaughan,  Captaine  of  the  Drake. 

John  Varney,  Captaine  of  the  George. 

John  Martin,  Captaine  of  the  Benjamin. 

Edward  Gilman,  Captaine  of  the  Skout. 

Richard  Hawkins,  Captaine  of  the  Galiot  called  the  Ducke. 

Bitfield,  Captaine  of  the  Swallow. 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  31 

the  squadron  arrived  somewhat  weakened  in  consequence 
at  the  island  of  Dominica.  This  island  is  described  by 
Thomas  Gates,  one  of  the  company  officers  who  wrote 
a  complete  account  published  in  Hakluyt's  ''  Voyages," 
as  inhabited  by  "  savage  people,  which  goe  all  naked, 
"their  skinne  coloured  with  some  painting  of  a  reddish 
"tawny,  very  personable  and  handsome  strong  men." 
From  thence  the  squadron  proceeded  toward  Hispaniola 
(San  Domingo),  and  spent  Christmas  (1585)  at  anchor  at 
the  island  of  St.  Christopher  (St.  Kitts)  where  no  people 
were  found. 

The  city  of  San  Domingo  in  Hispaniola  was  one  of 
the  chief  strongholds  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  West  Indies, 
and  so  strongly  built  and  fortified  that  no  serious  attack 
had  previously  been  attempted  upon  it.  It  was  surrounded 
by  walls  and  batteries  of  some  strength  and  reputed  to 
be  garrisoned  by  a  powerful  force,  although  the  Spanish 
accounts  state  that  about  two  thousand  only  of  the  eight 
thousand  inhabitants  were  capable  of  bearing  arms  and 
that  in  the  actual  defence  of  the  city  a  few  hundred  only 
participated.  Cates  refers  to  the  "glorious  fame  of  the 
"  citie  of  S.  Domingo,  being  the  ancientest  and  chiefe  in/ 
"  habited  place  in  all  the  tract  of  country  thereabouts." 

The  squadron  arrived  at  a  safe  landing/place  about  ten 
miles  from  the  city,  on  New  Year's  day,  1586,  and  not/ 
withstanding  the  commotion  created  in  the  city  by  the 
approach  of  the  large  flotilla,  the  troops  were  secretly 


32        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

landed  without  molestation  under  cover  of  the  night.  On 
the  morning  following,  Drake  made  a  feint  at  landing  on 
the  opposite  side  toward  which  Carleill  with  the  men  al/ 
ready  landed  was  approaching.  The  advantage  gained  by 
this  manoeuvre  was  pushed,  and  after  a  short  engagement 
in  the  streets  and  market/place  the  victory  was  won. 

The  town  was  rather  large  for  complete  occupancy  by 
the  small  number  of  troops  under  Carleill,  and  he  was  di^ 
rected  by  Drake  to  entrench  himself  in  the  most  substan/ 
tial  part  of  the  town ;  the  Spanish  troops  were  in  this  way 
divided  into  two  divisions,  one  which  had  fled  to  safety 
well  outside  of  the  city,  and  the  other  which  remained  in 
that  part  not  invested  by  the  English  forces. 

Drake  now  demanded  a  large  ransom  for  the  release 
of  the  town.  During  the  negotiations  he  sent  a  negro  boy 
with  a  flag  of  truce  to  the  Spanish  camp ;  the  boy  being 
met  by  a  few  Spanish  officers  was  so  wounded  by  one  of 
them  that  he  could  barely  crawl  back  within  his  own  lines 
to  die.  This  so  inflamed  the  natural  anger  of  Drake  that 
in  the  first  burst  of  his  fury  he  caused  to  be  hanged,  on 
the  spot  of  the  boy's  death,  two  friars  who  were  among 
the  prisoners ;  he  declared  that  until  the  cowardly  Span/ 
iard  who  killed  the  boy  was  publicly  executed  two  more 
prisoners  would  be  hanged  daily.  This  demand  was  quickly 
met.  The  amount  of  the  ransom  which  the  city,  even 
with  difficulty,  could  pay,  was  not  so  great  as  Drake  had 
expected,  and  he  had  to  be  contented  with  twenty/five 


o    ^ 

Q     " 

o   f 

o 

o    8 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  33 

thousand  ducats,  probably  equivalent  to  about  sixty  thou/ 
sand  dollars  of  American  money.  In  addition,  all  valuable 
property  of  a  kind  to  permit  of  removal  w^as  taken  aboard 
the  ships,  including  from  two  to  three  hundred  guns  and 
ample  stores  of  provisions.  A  few  of  the  better  vessels  in 
the  harbor  were  taken  and  the  remainder  destroyed. 

Exhilarated  by  victory,  and  with  his  squadron  well 
provisioned,  Drake  sailed  the  middle  of  February  for  Car/ 
tagena.  It  was  now  that  the  experience  which  he  had 
gained  in  his  earlier  voyages  stood  him  in  good  stead,  for 
he  could  approach  this  difficult  shore  and  harbour  with 
the  confidence  of  an  experienced  pilot. 

The  town  of  Cartagena  had  been  founded  a  little  more 
than  fifty  years  before  Drake's  attack,  and  was  already  well 
fortified,  although  its  system  of  walls  and  fortifications 
which  were  afterwards  intended  to  make  it  impregnable, 
were  not  then  wholly  completed.  The  town  is  situated  a 
few  feet  above  sea^level  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
harbour  or  Bay  of  Cartagena.  To  the  southwest  it  faces 
the  harbour,  and  to  the  northwest  its  long  side  is  on  the 
edge  of  the  open  sea  with  the  surf  breaking  near  the  base 
of  its  strong  walls.  The  remaining  boundary  is  largely  made 
up  of  a  great  shallow  lagoon  almost  connecting  with  the 
sea  on  the  one  side,  and  connected  with  the  harbour  on 
the  other.  The  harbour  itself  is  made  nearly  a  closed  ba/ 
sin  by  the  island  of  Tierra  Bomba,  at  each  end  of  which  in 
Drake's  time  was  an  entrance  for  ships,  the  larger  mouth, 


34        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

called  Boca  Grande,  the  one  nearer  the  city,  and  the  smaller 
and  more  difficult  mouth,  called  Boca  Chica,  at  the  west/ 
ern  end  of  the  bay. 

The  Boca  Grande  entrance  was  subsequently  closed  by 
artificial  means,  which,  when  once  effected,  was  greatly 
helped  by  the  natural  drift  of  the  sands.  It  has  now  been 
closed  for  all  but  the  smallest  boats  for  over  two  centuries. 

Cartagena,  by  reason  of  its  magnificent  harbour  and 
its  nearness  to  the  great  river  Magdalena,  which  leads 
down  from  the  rich  country  in  the  interior,  had  become 
the  storehouse  of  Spain  in  the  New  World,  and  the  head/ 
quarters  of  all  Spanish  commerce.  Philip  had  relied  upon 
the  reputation  of  Cartagena  for  strength  to  protect  it  from 
attack  and  had  no  conception  that  such  an  audacious  attack 
upon  his  American  possessions  would  be  made ;  he  had 
no  time  to  send  out  re/enforcements.  So  that  although 
warned  in  advance  of  the  impending  visit  of  Drake  with 
his  formidable  squadron,  the  Governor  of  Cartagena, 
Pedro  Vique,  could  not  depend  on  more  than  eleven  or 
twelve  hundred  men  all  told  for  the  defence  of  his  city. 
This  force  was  made  up  of  fifty  lancers,  four  hundred  and 
fifty  harquebusiers,  one  hundred  pikemen,  twenty  negro 
musketeers,  four  hundred  Indian  bowmen,  and  one  hun/ 
dred  and  fifty  harquebusiers  who  manned  two  galleys  in 
the  harbour. 

The  entrance  to  the  inner  harbour  was  defended  by  a 
fort  at  the  place  now  called  Pastelillo,  but  otherwise  there 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  35 

were  no  fortifications  except  diose  which  surrounded  the 
city  itself.  The  approach  to  the  inner  harbour  was  further 
protected  by  chains,  and  the  narrow  neck  of  land  reach/ 
ing  from  the  city  to  Boca  Grande  was  defended  by  a  stone 
breastwork  armed  with  a  few  guns  and  several  hundred 
men. 

Drake  entered  through  Boca  Grande  between  three 
and  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  without  resistance.  At 
nightfall  he  landed  the  troops  under  the  command  of  Car/ 
leill  close  to  Boca  Grande.  About  midnight,  having  failed 
to  find  paths  through  the  thick  growths  which  covered 
the  neck  of  land,  they  marched  along  the  beach  on  the 
side  towards  the  sea,  meeting  only  the  slight  resistance 
offered  by  a  small  body  of  horsemen  who  retired  at  the 
first  volley. 

The  sound  of  this  slight  engagement  was  a  signal  to 
Drake  to  carry  out  a  prearranged  plan,  by  which  the  ships 
at  once  attacked  the  fort  at  the  entrance  to  the  inner  har/ 
hour.  This  attack  was  a  diversion  and  was  not  pressed  to  a 
successful  conclusion,  as  indeed  would  have  been  difficult 
in  view  of  the  narrowness  of  channel,  the  chains,  and  the 
well/sustained  gun/fire  from  the  fort. 

During  this  attack  by  the  ships  the  troops  pressed  for/ 
ward  against  the  breastworks,  which  consisted  of  a  strongly 
built  stone  wall  with  a  ditch  without  and  flankings  cover/ 
ing  every  part.  A  small  passing  space  was  protected  by 
wine/butts  filled  with  earth,  the  whole  mounted  with  six 


36        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

guns  and  further  protected  by  drawing  up  to  the  shore 
the  two  large  galleys. 

Carleill  forced  the  attack  on  the  space  protected  by  the 
wine/butts,  and  largely  through  the  superiority  of  the  Eng/ 
lish  pikes  and  armour  a  breach  was  made  and  quickly  car/ 
ried  by  storm.  The  defenders  were  forced  into  the  city, 
where  the  streets  were  strongly  barricaded.  The  Indians 
gave  active  help  to  the  Spaniards,  fighting  with  poisoned 
arrows  and  with  small  sharp  poisoned  sticks  about  eigh/ 
teen  inches  long,  and  so  placed  in  the  ground  that  contact 
with  the  poisoned  ends  was  difficult  to  avoid.  Many  of 
the  Spanish  leaders  were  killed  and  Drake  was  soon  in 
possession  of  the  city.  Although  Drake's  idea  had  been 
to  permanently  hold  Cartagena  and  use  it  for  a  base  from 
which  to  attack  the  other  Spanish  settlements,  the  reduce 
tion  which  he  had  already  suffered  in  his  forces  and  the 
persistence  of  yellow  fever  among  his  men  changed  his 
plans,  and  he  determined  to  exact  the  largest  possible  ran/ 
som  and  leave  the  place.  At  a  general  council  of  land 
captains*  held  at  Cartagena  on  the  twenty/seventh  of 

*  Gates  gives  the  text  of  the  resolution  adopted  at  this  meeting  as  follows: 

Whereas  it  hath  pleased  the  Generall  to  demaund  the  opinions  of  his  Cap- 
taines  what  course  they  thinke  most  expedient  to  be  now  undertaken,  the  Land- 
captaines  being  asembled  by  themselves  together,  and  having  advised  hereupon, 
doe  in  three  points  deliver  the  same. 

The  first,  touching  the  keeping  of  the  towne  against  the  force  of  the  enemie, 
either  that  which  is  present,  or  that  which  may  come  out  of  Spaine,  is  answered 
thus  : 

We  holder  opinion,  that  with  this  troope  of  men  which  we  have  presently  with 
us  in  land-service,  being  victualled  aikl  munitioned,  wee  may  well  keepe  the 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  37 

February,  it  was  resolved  that  it  was  inexpedient  to  pro/ 
ceed  with  the  intended  capture  of  Panama  and  it  was  re/ 
solved  to  proceed  home  by  the  way  of  Florida. 

towne,  albeit  that  of  men  able  to  answere  present  service,  we  have  not  above 
700.  The  residue  being  some  150  men  by  reason  of  their  hurts  and  sicknesse 
are  altogether  unable  to  stand  us  in  any  stead :  wherefore  hereupon  the  Sea-cap- 
taines  are  likewise  to  give  their  resolution,  how  they  will  undertake  the  safetie 
and  service  of  the  Shippes  upon  the  arrivall  of  any  Spanish  Fleete. 

The  second  poynt  we  make  to  be  this,  whether  it  bee  meete  to  goe  presently 
homeward,  or  els  to  continue  further  tryall  of  our  fortune  in  undertaking  such 
like  enterprises  as  we  have  done  already,  and  thereby  to  seeke  after  that  bounti- 
full  masse  of  treasure  for  recompence  of  our  travail es,  which  was  generally  ex- 
pected at  our  comming  forth  of  England:  wherein  we  answerer 

That  it  is  well  knowcn  how  both  we  and  thesouldiers  are  entred  into  this  action 
as  voluntarie  men,  without  any  imprest  or  gage  from  her  Majestic  or  any  body 
els,  and  forasmuch  as  we  have  hitherto  discharged  the  parts  of  honest  men,  so 
that  now  by  the  great  blessing  and  favour  of  our  good  God  there  have  bin  taken 
three  such  notable  townes,  wherein  by  the  estimation  of  all  men  would  have  been 
found  some  very  great  treasures,  knowing  that  S.  lago  was  the  chiefe  citie  of  all 
the  Islands  and  traffiques  thereabouts,  S.  Domingo  the  chiefe  citie  of  Hispaniola, 
and  the  head  government  not  only  of  that  Hand,  but  also  of  Cuba,  and  of  all 
the  Hands  about  it,  as  also  of  such  inhabitations  of  the  Hrme  land,  as  were  next 
unto  it,  &  a  place  that  is  both  magnificently  builded,  and  interteineth  great 
trades  of  merchandise}  and  now  lastly  the  citie  of  Cartagena,  which  cannot  be 
denied  to  be  one  of  the  chiefe  places  of  most  especiall  importance  to  the  Span- 
iard of  all  the  cities  which  be  on  this  side  of  the  West  India:  we  doe  therefore 
consider,  that  since  all  these  cities,  with  their  goods  and  prisoners  taken  in  them, 
and  the  ransoms  of  the  said  cities  being  all  put  together,  are  found  farre  short  to 
satisfie  that  expectation  which  by  the  generality  of  the  enterprisers  was  first  con- 
ceived: And  being  further  advised  of  the  slendemesse  of  our  strengthe,  where- 
unto  we  be  now  reduced,  as  well  in  respect  of  the  small  number  of  able  bodies, 
as  also  not  a  litle  in  regard  of  the  slacke  disposition  of  the  greater  part  of  those 
which  remaine,  verj-  many  of  the  better  mindes  and  men  being  either  consumed 
by  death,  or  weakened  by  sicknes  and  hurts:  And  lastly,  since  that  as  yet  there 
is  not  laid  downe  to  our  knowledge  any  such  enterprise  as  may  seeme  convenient 
to  be  undertaken  with  such  few  as  we  are  presently  able  to  make,  and  withall  of 
such  certaine  likelihoode,  as  with  Gods  good  successe  which  it  may  please  him 


38        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

Drake  demanded  a  ransom  of  one  hundred  thousand 
pounds,  but  this  sum  was  declared  by  the  Spaniards  im/ 

to  bestow  upon  us,  the  same  may  promise  to  yeeld  us  any  sufficient  contentment: 
We  doe  therefore  conclude  hereupon,  that  it  is  better  to  hold  sure  as  we  may 
the  honour  already  gotten,  and  with  the  same  to  returne  towards  our  gracious 
Soveraigne  and  Countrey,  from  whenece  if  it  shall  please  her  Majestie  to  set  us 
foorth  againe  with  her  orderly  meanes  and  intertainment,  we  are  most  ready 
and  willing  to  goe  through  with  anything  that  the  uttermost  of  our  strength 
and  indevour  shall  be  able  to  reach  unto;  but  therewithal  we  doe  advise,  and 
protest  that  it  is  farre  from  our  thoughts,  either  to  refuse,  or  so  much  as  to  seeme 
to  be  wearie  of  any  thing,  which  for  the  present,  shalbe  further  required  or  di- 
rected to  be  done  by  us  from  our  Generall. 

The  third  and  last  poynt  is  concerning  the  ransorae  of  this  citie  of  Cartagena, 
for  the  which,  before  it  was  touched  with  any  fire,  there  was  made  an  offer  of 
some  xxviij.  thousand  pounds  sterling. 

Thus  much  we  utter  herein  as  our  opinions  agreeing  (so  it  be  done  in  good 
sort)  to  accept  this  offer  aforesayde,  rather  then  to  break  off*  by  standing  still 
upon  our  demaunds  of  one  hundred  thousand  poundes,  which  seemes  a  matter 
impossible  to  bee  performed  for  the  present  by  them,  and  to  say  trueth,  wee  may 
now  with  much  honour  and  reputation  better  be  satisfied  with  that  summe  offered 
by  them  at  the  first  (if  they  will  now  bee  contented  to  give  it)  then  we  might  at 
that  time  with  a  greal  deale  more,  inasmuch  as  we  have  taken  our  full  pleasure 
both  in  the  uttermost  sacking  and  spoyling  of  all  their  householde  goods  and 
marchandize,  as  also  in  that  wc  have  consumed  and  ruined  a  great  part  of  their 
Towne  with  fire.  And  thus  much  further  is  considered  herein  by  us,  that  as  there 
bee  in  the  Voyage  a  great  many  poore  men,  who  have  willingly  adventured  their 
lives  and  travailes,  and  divers  amongst  them  having  spent  their  apparell  and  such 
other  little  provisions  as  their  small  meanes  might  have  given  them  leave  to  pre- 
pare, which  being  done  upon  such  good  and  allowable  intention  as  this  action 
hath  alwayes  caried  with  it,  meaning,  against  the  Spanyard  our  greatest  and 
most  dangerous  cnemie:  so  surely  we  cannot  but  have  an  inward  regarde  so 
ferre  as  may  lye  in  us,  to  helpe  either  in  all  good  sort  towards  the  satisfaction  of 
this  their  expectation,  and  by  procuring  them  some  little  benefite  to  incourage 
them  and  to  nourish  this  readie  and  willing  disposition  of  theirs  both  in  them  and 
in  others  by  their  example  against  any  other  time  of  like  occasion.  But  because 
it  may  bee  supposed  that  herein  wee  forgette  not  the  private  benefite  of  our 
selves,  and  are  thereby  the  rather  mooved  to  incline  our  selves  to  this  composi- 
tion, wee  doe  therefore  thinke  good  for  the  clearing  of  ourselves  of  all  such  sus- 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  39 

possible  to  get  together,  and  an  amount  equivalent  to 
about  twenty/eight  thousand  pounds  was  tendered.  In  the 
meantime,  notwithstanding  various  courtesies  exchanged 
between  the  higher  officers  on  each  side,  much  irritation 
appears  to  have  arisen  over  the  matter  of  the  ransom,  and 
a  considerable  part  of  the  city  was  burned.  Finally  a  ran/ 
som,  stated  by  Gates  to  have  been  one  hundred  and  ten 
thousand  ducats,  and  by  Spanish  authorities  to  have  been 
four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  was  paid  and  the  English 
troops  evacuated.  Drake,  however,  after  leaving  the  city, 
appears  to  have  insisted  that  an  abbey  or  priory  just  out/ 
side  had  not  been  included  in  the  terms  of  settlement,  and 
continued  to  hold  it  until  an  additional  sum  of  one  thou/ 
sand  crowns  was  paid. 

The  fleet  had  remained  at  Cartagena  six  weeks  when 
it  finally  set  sail  the  last  of  March.  The  voyage  was  de/ 
layed  by  leaky  vessels,  and  the  fleet  did  not  arrive  off  Cape 
Anthony  on  the  eastern  end  of  Cuba  until  the  twenty/ 
seventh  of  April.  Here  the  fleet  took  water  and  proceeded 

pitlon,  to  declare  hereby,  that  what  part  or  portion  soever  it  bee  of  this  ransome 
or  composition  for  Cartagena,  which  should  come  unto  us,  wee  doe  freely  give 
and  bestowe  the  same  wholy  upon  the  poorc  men,  who  have  remayned  with  us 
in  the  Voyage,  meaning  as  well  the  Sayler  as  the  Souldier,  wishing  with  all  our 
hearts  it  were  such  or  so  much  as  might  seeme  a  sufficient  rewarde  for  their  paine- 
fiill  indevour.  And  for  the  firme  confirmation  thereof,  we  have  thought  meetc 
to  subsigne  these  presents  with  our  owne  hands  in  the  place  and  time  aforesayd. 

Captaine  Christopher  Carleill  Litutenant  Generall 

Captaine  Goring 

Captaine  Sampson 

Captaine  Powell  &c. 


40        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

to  the  coast  of  Florida,  where  St.  Augustine  and  various 
smaller  and  less  important  places  were  captured.  The 
fleet  then  sailed  for  Plymouth  and  arrived  there  the 
twenty/eighth  of  July,  1586. 

There  were  on  this  voyage  a  total  of  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  men  lost  from  all  causes,  the  greater  number  from 
disease. 

The  total  value  of  the  booty  gained  was  about  sixty 
thousand  pounds,  not  counting  some  two  hundred  and 
forty  pieces  of  ordnance,  of  which  about  two  hundred 
pieces  were  of  brass,  including  sixty /three  from  Cartagena. 

Drake  had  ably  and  bravely  executed  the  task  which 
had  been  given  him  and  returned  home  with  increased 
popularity  and  prestige.  The  actual  injury  to  the  King  of 
Spain  by  the  expedition  was  less  than  the  harm  done  to 
individuals  in  the  Spanish  possessions,  a  fact  which  served 
to  create  a  hatred  of  the  English  which  survived  for  gen/ 
erations. 

In  the  following  year,  1587,  when  an  invasion  of  Eng/ 
land  was  again  feared  by  Elizabeth,  Drake  was  appointed 
to  command  the  English  fleet  which  was  immediately 
formed  to  prevent  the  '*  joining  together  of  the  King  of 
"  Spain's  fleet  out  of  their  several  ports."  He  attacked 
Cadiz,  where  he  destroyed  thirty/three  vessels  and  carried 
away  others.  After  several  other  captures  he  returned  to 
England,  to  be  sent  out  again  in  July,  1588,  as  vice/ad/ 
miral,  under  Lord  Howard,  of  the  fleet  sent  to  intercept 


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SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  41 

the  "Spanish  Armada,"  the  history  of  which  adventure 
is  well  known. 

The  next  year  Drake  was  in  command  of  an  expedition 
to  invade  Spain  and  Portugal.  After  his  return  from  this 
service,  he  again  served  in  Parliament,  but  the  sea  once  . 
more  claimed  him  in  August,  1595,  when  he  sailed  for 
the  West  Indies,  on  what  was  to  be  his  last  voyage,  with 
Sir  John  Hawkins  as  his  vice/admiral.  Hawkins  died  off 
Puerto  Rico  in  November,  and  on  the  twenty/eighth  of 
January,  1596,  Drake  himself  died  on  board  of  his  ship 
off  Puerto  Bello  after  a  fortnight's  illness  in  his  cabin. 


CHAPTER  III 

SIR  HENRY  MORGAN 

IT  has  been  shown  in  the  earlier  chapters  how  both  by- 
discovery  and  by  conquest  Spain  in  the  sixteenth  cen/ 
tury  claimed  the  exclusive  right  to  the  New  World.  Al/ 
though  this  claim  was  successfully  disputed  by  the  English 
and  French  in  the  regions  north  of  Florida,  and  by  the 
Portuguese  in  certain  other  places,  Spain  had  during  the 
century  following  the  first  voyage  of  Columbus  established 
her  rule  over  the  West  Indies,  Central  America,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  great  continent  to  the  south. 

Tales  of  these  vast  and  rich  territories  had  bred  in  the 
venturesome  hearts  of  many  an  Englishman  and  French/ 
man  a  wish  to  share  in  the  development  and  trade  of  this 
marvellous  New  World.  Spain  had  clearly  proclaimed, 
however,  that  all  foreigners  were  forbidden  entry  to  the 
waters  of  the  Caribbean.  Envy  of  the  Spanish  bred  a  hatred 
which  was  fanned  to  fever  heat  by  the  stories  of  cruelties 
inflicted  on  English  sailors  by  their  captors.  The  terror 
of  the  Inquisition  at  Cartagena  had  served  in  Protestant 
England  to  give  a  religious  fervour  to  the  hatred  of  Spain. 
This  hatred  was  shared  by  the  French  and  Dutch  who 
wished  for  equal  opportunities  in  the  rich  trade  with  the 
Caribbean  Sea. 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  43 

That  the  energy  shown  by  Spain  in  colonizing  and  ex^ 
ploring  is  without  parallel  in  the  records  of  such  achieve/ 
ments,  has  already  been  recorded.  Panama  was  crossed  and 
the  great  empire  of  Peru  was  administered  by  a  Spanish 
viceroy.  In  Mexico  came  the  downfall  of  the  Aztec  em^ 
pire.  So  advanced  was  the  colonization  of  these  two  great 
vice/royalties  that  the  University  of  San  Marco  was 
founded  at  Lima  in  1 55 1 ,  and  another  University  opened 
its  doors  in  Mexico  in  1553. 

Spain  suffered,  however,  from  the  over/confidence  in/ 
duced  by  her  own  greatness.  Her  exclusion  of  foreigners 
served  to  tie  together  her  enemies  in  one  common  pur/ 
pose.  The  name  of  Francis  Drake  had  become  the  terror 
of  the  Spanish  in  the  New  World.  To  the  hardy  English 
mariners  the  profits  of  a  trade  in  forbidden  seas  more  than 
sufficed  to  balance  its  perils,  while  at  home  the  most  re/ 
spectable  persons  thought  anything  a  godly  work  which 
served  to  break  up  the  Catholic  monopoly  of  the  New 
World.  Drake's  success  lured  the  adventurous  to  the  Carib/ 
bean. 

The  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada  in  1 588  was  a  blow 
to  the  sea/power  of  Spain.  Her  naval  supremacy  was  lost. 
Without  the  command  of  the  seas  an  empire  widely  scat/ 
tered  and  separated  by  broad  expanses  of  oceans  could  not 
be  held  intact.  The  time  had  come  for  the  great  Protest/ 
ant  power,  England,  to  take  her  part  in  the  development 
of  the  New  World.  The  growth  of  English  trade  and  the 


44        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

increase  in  her  shipping  were  still  further  stimulated  by 
the  long  peace  during  the  reign  of  Charles  I. 

The  Continental  wars  had  been  profitable  to  England ; 
her  ships  were  thrusting  themselves  into  every  trade,  and 
her  manufactures  prospering.  The  failure  of  the  Virginian 
settlement  of  Raleigh  had  been  followed  by  the  more 
successful  undertaking  of  John  Smith.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers 
had  settled  on  the  New  England  coast.  The  civil  war  and 
the  government  of  Cromwell  delayed  somewhat  the  spread 
of  English  influence  and  control  in  the  West  Indies  and 
the  Spanish  Main.  Cromwell,  the  Puritan,  however,  could 
not  but  share  the  old  English  hatred  of  the  great  Papist 
state,  and  over  his  own  hand  wrote  to  his  admirals  in  the 
West  Indies,  "  the  Lord  Himself  hath  a  controversy  with 
'*your  enemies;  even  with  that  Romish  Babylon  of  which 
**the  Spaniard  is  the  great  under ^propper.  In  that  respect 
'*we  fight  the  Lord's  battles." 

Early  in  1655,  although  no  war  had  actually  been  de/ 
clared  between  England  and  Spain,  one  English  fleet 
under  Blake  failed  in  an  attempt  to  intercept  a  Spanish 
treasure  fleet  from  the  West  Indies,  but  another  expedi/ 
tion,  although  failing  to  capture  San  Domingo,  seized  and 
held  the  island  of  Jamaica.  These  acts  naturally  resulted 
in  actual  war  with  Spain  and  later  in  the  same  year  Crom^ 
well  signed  a  treaty  of  alliahce  with  France. 

This  capture  of  Jamaica  by  the  English  was  the  first 
permanent  occupation  by  a  power  other  than  Spain  in  that 
part  of  the  New  World. 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  45 

A  cessation  of  hostilities  followed  the  restoration  of 
the  monarchy,  and  on  the  accession  of  Charles  II,  in  May, 
1 660,  negotiations  intended  to  lead  to  a  permanent  peace 
and  the  re/establishment  of  commercial  relations  were 
inaugurated.  This  armistice  or  peace  appears  to  have  been 
somewhat  doubtfully  interpreted  in  the  West  Indies.  It 
was  generally  construed  not  to  include  the  New  World, 
but  to  apply  to  Europe  only.  None  of  the  difficulties  of 
trade  had  been  settled  and  with  such  conflicting  interests 
and  aims  any  real  peace  in  the  Caribbean  was  impossible. 

In  January,  1664,  Sir  Thomas  Modyford,  then  Gov/ 
ernor  of  Barbadoes,  was  appointed  Governor  of  Jamaica. 
By  the  instructions  given  him,  dated  February,  1664,  he 
was  directed  to  encourage  trade  and  friendly  relations  with 
the  Spanish  Dominion  and  to  prohibit  the  granting  of  let/ 
ters  of  marque .  It  was  not  until  June,  however,  that  Mody/ 
ford  arrived  in  Jamaica  and  proclaimed  a  cessation  of 
hostilities.  Neither  this  proclamation  nor  the  polite  com/ 
munication  which  he  sent  to  the  neighbouring  Spanish 
Governor  at  Cartagena  was  sufficient  to  accomplish  actual 
good  relations.  A  few  days  before  his  arrival,  the  tempo/ 
rary  President  of  the  Jamaica  Council  had  written,  **It  is 
«*not  in  the  power  of  the  governor  to  have  or  suffer  a 
**  commerce,  nor  will  any  necessity  or  advantage  bring 
**. private  Spaniards  to  Jamaica,  for  we  and  they  have  used 
"too  many  mutual  barbarisms  to  have  a  sudden  corre/ 
"spondence."  The  fact  that  the  chief  cause  of  the  trou/ 


46        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

ble,  the  buccaneers,  were  still  active  made  the  task  of 
Modyford  more  difficult. 

This  much  of  the  general  conditions  precedent  to  the 
participation  of  Sir  Henry  Morgan  in  the  operations  of 
the  English  in  the  Caribbean  Sea  has  been  necessary  to 
record  in  order  to  view  in  proper  perspective  the  char^ 
acter  and  exploits  of  this  variously  regarded  but  certainly 
remarkable  man. 

It  will  be  wise  to  consider  even  more  intimately  the 
actual  conditions  in  the  West  Indies  in  order  to  judge 
fairly,  and  with  proper  regard  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
moment,  the  exact  part  played  by  Sir  Henry  Morgan  both 
in  encouraging  and  afterwards  in  suppressing  the  buc/ 
caneers. 

The  bearer  to  the  West  Indies  of  the  commission  and 
instructions  to  Modyford  had  been  Colonel  Edward  Mor/ 
gan,  an  uncle  of  Sir  Henry  Morgan.  Colonel  Morgan  had 
been  named  as  Sir  Thomas  Modyford's  deputy/governor, 
and  appears  to  have  shown  zeal  in  furthering  by  acts  the 
instructions  of  which  he  had  been  the  bearer. 

The  island  of  Tortuga  was  the  principal  rendezvous 
of  the  buccaneers.  At  this  time  French  influence  was  in 
the  ascendant  in  the  mixed  colony  at  Tortuga,  and  it  is 
not  strange  that  no  sympathy  was  felt  with  the  avowed 
English  design  of  bringing  to  an  end  the  highly  remuner/ 
ative  <*  trade"  of  the  buccaneers.  The  controlling  spirit 
in  the  colony  was  Bertrand  d'Ogeron,  the  representative. 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  47 

with  tide  of  governor,  sent  out  by  the  French  West/India 
Company. 

Not  only  was  the  conquest  of  Tortuga  necessary  if  the 
buccaneers  were  to  be  effectively  suppressed,  but  the  many 
less  organized  and  roving  buccaneers,  who  refused  to  give 
up  their  commissions  or  licenses  must  needs  be  searched 
out  and  forced  to  obedience.  Modyford  was  almost  pow/ 
erless,  however,  as  King  Charles  had  recalled  from  the 
West  Indies  practically  all  English  men^of<'war,  while  on 
the  other  hand  the  buccaneers  had  increased  in  numbers. 
It  was  estimated  that  nearly  two  thousand  men  from  Ja/ 
maica  alone,  in  some  fourteen  or  fifteen  different  ships, 
were  engaged  in  the  business. 

In  the  early  spring  of  1665,  Modyford,  having  first 
obtained  permission  from  home,  despatched  Colonel  Ed/ 
ward  Morgan  with  five  hundred  men  and  ten  ships  to 
attack  first  the  Dutch  trading  at  St.  Kitts  or  St.  Eustatius, 
then  to  visit  Tortuga  and  Hispaniola.  Hostilities  between 
the  Dutch  and  English  had  been  expected  for  some  time. 

Colonel  Morgan,  although  described  by  Modyford  in 
his  report  of  the  setting  forth  of  this  expedition  as  an 
**  honest  privateer,"  appears  to  have  had  some  difficulty 
in  controlling  the  rabble  of  which  his  crews  were  com/ 
posed.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Jamaica  at  this  time 
was  largely  colonized  from  the  prisons  of  England  and  by 
roughs  and  vagrants  of  all  kinds,  to  whom  the  gentle/ 
manly  profession  of  privateering  strongly  appealed. 


48        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

At  St.  Eustatius  Colonel  Morgan  landed  with  a  some^ 
what  diminished  body  of  followers,  and  attacked  the  Dutch 
garrison,  who  were  fairly  well  placed  in  a  fort  of  some 
strength  on  an  eminence.  For  some  reason,  which  does 
not  appear  in  the  record,  the  Dutch  Governor  surrendered 
without  the  strong  opposition  which  was  to  have  been 
expected.  Colonel  Morgan,  however,  then  well  along  in 
years  and  unfitted  for  this  sort  of  service,  died  during  this 
action.  The  plunder  was  substantial,  but  in  the  quarrels 
of  the  crews  and  the  subsequent  dispositions  made  we 
are  not  now  concerned.  Colonel  Morgan,  the  uncle  of 
Sir  Henry,  appears  to  have  had  the  respect  and  confidence 
of  his  King  and  countrymen. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  Modyford,  anxious 
to  pursue  the  design  interrupted  by  the  death  of  Colonel 
Morgan,  called  to  his  aid  one  of  the  most  noted  of  the 
privateers  of  the  time.  Captain  Edward  Mansfield.  Blue/ 
fields  Bay  on  the  Central  American  coast  was  named  as  a 
rendezvous  for  the  buccaneers.  A  state  of  actual  war  ex/ 
isted  between  the  Dutch  and  the  English,  and  shortly  af/ 
ter  this  France,  rallying  to  the  support  of  her  allies,  the 
Dutch,  declared  war  against  England.  It  became  a  mat/ 
ter  of  urgent  policy  for  Modyford  to  attract  the  bucca/ 
neers  from  their  French  associates.  The  original  orders 
to  Modyford  were  modified,  and  the  granting  of  commis/ 
sions,  or  letters  of  marque,  was  left  to  his  discretion.  In 
a  way  matters  were  not  seriously  affected  by  this  change 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  49 

of  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  English  Government  be^ 
cause  the  buccaneers  had  continued — although  not  legally 
commissioned  so  to  do  — to  prey  upon  the  Spanish  settle/ 
ments  and  commerce ;  but  with  the  legalization  of  the 
expedition  under  Mansfield,  the  ports  of  Jamaica  were 
opened  for  the  disposal  of  booty  and  the  refitting  of  ships. 

A  few  months  before  Mansfield  left  Jamaica  for  the 
appointed  rendezvous,  it  is  reported  that  Henry  Morgan 
and  two  other  privateer  captains  had  come  to  Port  Royal 
with  tales  of  great  wealth  in  Central  America.  In  January 
of  1665,  Henry  Morgan  and  his  two  associates,  Jackman 
and  Morris,  had  explored  and  plundered  part  of  the  prov/ 
ince  of  Campeache,  an  expedition  to  which  further  ref/ 
erence  wiU  be  made,  and  there  appears  little  doubt  that 
Henry  Morgan  accompanied  Mansfield  on  his  expedition 
—  possibly,  as  Exquemelin  states,  as  his  **  Vice/ Admiral." 

Mansfield's  fleet  had  an  adventurous  and  prosperous 
vopge.  He  plundered  somewhat  in  Cuba,  captured  Prov/ 
idence  Island,  sacked  Granada,  the  capital  of  Nicaragua, 
and  plundered  Costa  Rica  as  far  inland  as  Turrialba. 
Somewhat  worn  by  long  land  journeys,  they  gave  up  the 
uphill  march  to  Cartago  and  passed  out  through  Veragua, 
where  they  joined  their  ships,  which,  deeply  laden  with 
booty,  they  sailed  into  Port  Royal,  Jamaica.  Mansfield 
had  exceeded  his  orders,  but  appears  to  have  been  more 
commended  than  reproved.  He  was  soon  afterwards 
engaged  in  the  defence  of  Providence,  which  his  energy 


so        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

had  made  an  English  island,  and  in  some  way  came  to  his 
death. 

From  now  on  Henry  Morgan  became  a  commanding 
figure  in  the  West  Indies.  The  circumstances  were  fitted 
for  the  fullest  development  of  a  man  of  his  daring,  re/ 
sourceful,  and  not  too  scrupulous  character. 

Henry  Morgan  was  almost  certainly  born  in  Mon-' 
mouthshire,  about  1635 ;  according  to  his  own  statement 
he  was  the  son  of  a  gentleman,  but  there  is  little  evidence 
bearing  on  his  birth  and  parentage  other  than  his  own  dec/ 
larations  made  from  time  to  time;  there  appears  however 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  he  came  from  respectable  Welsh 
stock.  Of  his  father  little  is  known,  but  that  his  uncle, 
Colonel  Edward  Morgan,  was  a  trusted  and  somewhat 
distinguished  servant  of  the  Crown  we  have,  as  has  been 
shown,  positive  knowledge.  It  is  known  that  at  about  the 
age  of  thirty,  Henry  Morgan  married  his  first  cousin,  a 
daughter  of  his  uncle.  Colonel  Edward  Morgan.  Colonel 
Morgan's  wife  was  the  daughter  of  a  Saxon  nobleman. 
Baron  von  Polnitz.  The  great  popular  knowledge  of 
Henry  Morgan  and  interest  in  him  is  derived  from  a  His/ 
tory  of  the  Buccaneers  written  by  one  John  Exquemelin  * 
and  first  published  in  Dutch  at  Amsterdam  in  the  year 

♦  Little  is  positively  known  of  Exquemelin.  He  is  variously  described  as  a 
Frenchman,  Hollander,  and  Fleming.  The  fact  that  the  first  edition  of  his  ac- 
count is  in  Dutch  throws  doubt  on  the  suggestion  of  French  birth.  He  is  first 
known  as  a  servant  of  the  French  West  India  Company  at  Tortuga  ;  afterwards 
he  joined  the  buccaneers  and  was  one  of  the  followers  of  Morgan  in  several  ex- 
peditions. (The  Dutch  spelling  of  his  name  has  been  adopted  except  in  quoted 
matter.) 


[^facsimile]] 


BUCANIERS 

AMERICA: 

Or,  a  true 

ACCOUNT 

O  F    T  H  E 

Moft  remarkable  Ailaults 

Committed  of  late  years  upon  the  Coafts  of 

By   the  Bucaniers  of  Jamaica  and  tortuga^ 
Both  ENGLISH  and  FRENCH, 

wherein  arc  contained  more  cfpcciaKy, 

The  unparallel'd  Exploits  of  Six  Henry  Morgan,  our  En- 
gl i(h  Jamaican  Hcro,who  fack'd  P«cr/a  Fe/(?,buriit  Psnama,B>cc, 


Written  originally  in  Vutch-,  by  John  EJquemeling^  one  of  the 
Bucaniers^  who  was  prefcnt  at  thofe  Tragedies  i  and  thence 
traiiflated  into  SpanifP)^  by  Alonfo  de  Bonne-maifon^  Doctor  of 
Phyfick^and  Praditioner  at  Amiierdam. 

Now  faithfully  rendred  into  EngUjh. 


LONDON: 
Printed  for  William  Crooke,  at  the  Green  Dragon  with- 
out TempU'lar,     1684. 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  51 

1678.  It  was  almost  immediately  translated  and  published 
in  German  and  in  Spanish  (1681) ;  from  the  Spanish  edu 
tion  it  was  translated  into  English  and  published  by  W. 
Crooke,  in  London  in  1684,  with  the  accompanying  title/ 
page. 

In  the  same  year  another  translation  was  also  issued  in 
London  by  Thomas  Malthus,  which  differs  in  some  par/ 
ticulars  from  the  translation  issued  by  Crooke,  and  pur/ 
ports  to  include  the  testimony  of  other  eye/witnesses. 

Exquemelin's  account  of  Morgan  described  him  as 
more  of  a  pirate  than  a  commissioned  privateer,  and  at/ 
tributed  to  him  cruel  and  unnecessary  acts,  which  greatly 
incensed  Morgan  and  his  friends.  Malthus  was  brought 
immediately  into  court  under  charge  of  libel,  and  a  record 
of  the  case  is  one  of  the  interesting  sources  of  informa/ 
tion  regarding  Morgan,  who  won  the  suit.  Influenced 
probably  by  the  difficulties  of  Malthus,  William  Crooke 
published  a  second  edition  with  an  explanatory  although 
apparently  not  sufficiently  apologetic  preface,  as  it  was 
later  followed  by  a  vastly  entertaining  and  almost  mawkish 
public  apology  to  which  reference  will  again  be  made. 
These  records,  taken  with  the  Minutes  of  the  Council 
Books  of  Jamaica,  and  the  long  files  of  correspondence 
between  Morgan  and  the  Lords  of  Trade  and  Plantations 
and  other  London  officials,  make  on  the  whole  a  fairly  con/ 
vincing  record  of  the  character  and  exploits  of  Sir  Henry 
Morgan. 


52        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

According  to  Exquemelin,  a  statement  for  which  the 
publisher  Malthus  suffered  and  Crooke  apologized,  Mor/ 
gan  was  kidnapped  when  a  boy  and  sold  as  an  indentured 
servant  in  Barbadoes.  Morgan,  who  appears  to  have  been 
particularly  sensitive  as  to  this  story,  always  stoutly  denied 
it.  In  any  event,  either  involuntarily  or  by  deliberate  intent 
he  went  as  a  youth  to  Barbadoes  and  in  due  course,  as  a 
young  man  to  Jamaica,  where  he  joined  the  buccaneers. 
His  capacity  and  talent  for  command  soon  made  him  cap/ 
tain  of  a  ship. 

Words  which  not  so  long  ago  were  understood  by 
every  one  are  to-day  used  so  carelessly  that  it  may  be  well 
to  remind  the  reader  that  a  buccaneer  or  privateer  is  not 
necessarily  a  pirate.  The  privateers  were  always,  or  sup/ 
posedly  always,  commissioned  by  some  appropriate  gov/ 
ernmental  authority.  A  pirate  has,  of  course,  no  license 
or  authority  save  from  his  own  strength,  courage,  and 
wit. 

There  is  some  doubt  as  to  whether  the  commission 
under  which  they  sailed  was  still  valid  or  had  expired,  but 
early  in  1665,  Morgan  and  two  other  privateer  captains, 
Jackman  and  Morris,  had,  as  has  been  before  recorded, 
carried  out  a  profitable  venture  in  Central  America.  With 
over  one  hundred  followers  they  had  left  their  ships 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Tabasco  River  in  Campeache,  and 
guided  by  friendly  Indians  they  reached  and  sacked  the 
town  called  Villa  de  Mosa,  a  trading  centre  some  thirty/ 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  53 

five  miles  above  the  mouth.  On  their  return  they  found 
their  ships  had  been  seized  by  Spaniards  whose  numbers 
exceeded  theirs  some  threefold.  The  hardy  buccaneers, 
however,  were  more  than  a  match  for  the  less  robust  land 
soldiers  and  soon  drove  off  the  Spaniards.  They  then  fitted 
boats  appropriate  for  the  service,  and  sailed  off,  and  cap/ 
tured  and  plundered  both  Rio  Carta  and  Truxillo.  From 
there  they  passed  down  the  Mosquito  Coast,  plundering 
everything  worth  while,  and  finally  made  Monkey  Bay 
their  base  for  operations  in  Nicaragua.  They  appear  to 
have  been  much  impressed  with  the  climate  and  beauty 
of  Lake  Nicaragua,  the  one/hundred/mile  journey  to 
which  they  had  made  in  canoes  up  the  San  Juan  River. 
By  an  adroitly  conceived  and  brilliantly  executed  night 
attack  on  the  city  of  Cranada,  they  seized  the  magazines 
and  principal  big  guns  within  the  actual  city  and  locked 
up  in  the  cathedrals  several  hundred  of  the  more  prosper/ 
ous  citizens.  For  over  half  a  day  they  plundered  the  town, 
and  then,  after  rendering  useless  all  boats  except  those 
needed  for  their  own  return  to  the  coast,  they  opened  the 
doors  of  the  cathedrals  and  released  their  prisoners.* 

The  lure  of  climate,  scenery,  and  an  easily  looted  city 
appears  to  have  been  irresistible,  because  it  will  be  re/ 
membered  that  it  was  only  a  year  afterwards  that  Mans/ 

*  Except  for  some  variations  in  geographical  names  used,  a  not  uncommon 
fault  with  the  contemporaneous  accounts  of  these  days,  the  principal  facts  of  this 
visit  are  confirmed  by  the  report  of  the  Viceroy  of  New  Spain. 


54        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

field,  with  Henry  Morgan  as  one  of  his  captains  —  and 
presumably  his  vice/admiral — again  attacked  and  looted 
the  city  of  Granada. 

If  there  was  really  any  doubt  as  to  the  validity  of  the 
commission  under  which  Morgan  and  his  associates  had 
sailed,  their  acts  certainly  appear  to  have  been  fully  ap/ 
proved  or  at  least  condoned.  In  the  absence  of  and  after 
the  death  of  Mansfield,  Sir  Thomas  Modyford,  being 
without  support  of  any  proper  naval  establishment,  called 
upon  Morgan  to  assist  in  protecting  the  island  of  Jamaica 
fi-om  an  expected  invasion  by  the  Spaniards,  and  commis/ 
sioned  him  to  get  the  English  privateers  together  with  a 
view  to  take  some  Spanish  prisoners  and  learn  from  them 
the  actual  intentions  and  strength  of  the  enemy.  It  must 
be  said  of  young  Captain  Morgan,  then  but  thirty /three 
years  old,  that  his  courage  in  construing  orders  and  com^ 
missions  was  not  even  exceeded  by  his  dauntless  energy 
and  bravery  when  engaged  with  the  enemy.  He  looked 
at  the  intent  rather  than  at  the  letter  of  his  instructions,  a 
course  which  experience  has  shown  is  forgiven  and  jus^ 
tified  by  success — and  by  that  only. 

Exquemelin*s  story  of  Morgan's  next  expedition  is  dis^ 
puted  by  Morgan  himself  in  so  few  of  its  essentials,  and 
is  so  fiiU  of  the  flavour  of  the  irresponsible  and  stirring 
times  in  which  the  events  happened,  that  generous  quo/ 
tations  of  a  portion  of  his.  narrative  may  well  be  made.  It 
is  to  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  the  allegations  of 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  55 

extreme  cruelty  were  hotly  denied  by  Morgan  and  his 
friends,  a  fact  which  will  be  considered  later. 

"  Captain  Morgan  who  always  communicated  Vigour 
"with  his  words,  infused  such  Spirits  into  his  men,  as 
"  were  able  to  put  every  one  of  them  instantly  upon  new 
*'  designs :  They  being  all  perswaded  by  his  Reasons,  that 
* '  the  sole  execution  of  his  Orders,  would  be  a  certain  means 
"of  obtaining  great  Riches.  This  perswasion  had  such 
"influence  upon  their  minds  that  with  unimitable  Cour/ 
"age  they  all  resolved  to  follow  him.  The  same  likewise 
"did  a  certain  Pirat  of  Campeche;  who  in  this  ocasion 
"  joyned  with  Captain  Morgan,  to  seek  new  fortunes  un/ 
"der  his  conduct,  and  greater  advantages  than  he  had 
"found  before.  Thus  Captain  Morgan,  in  few  days,  gath/ 
"ered  a  Fleet  of  nine  sail,  between  Ships  and  great  Boats ; 
"  wherein  he  had  four  hundred  and  threescore  military 
"men. 

"After  that  all  things  were  in  a  good  posture  of  readi/ 
"ness,  they  put  forth  to  Sea,  Captain  Morgan  imparting 
"the  design  he  had  in  his  mind  unto  no  body  for  that 
"present.  He  onely  told  them  on  several  occasions,  that, 
"  he  held  as  indubitable,  he  should  make  a  good  fortune 
"by  that  Voyage,  if  strange  occurrences  altered  not  the 
"course  of  his  designs.  They  directed  their  course  to/ 
"wards  the  Continent;  where  they  arrived  in  few  days 
"  upon  the  Coast  of  Costa  Rica,  with  all  their  Fleet  entire. 
"  No  sooner  had  they  discovered  Land,  but  Captain  Mor/ 


56        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

**gan  declared  his  intentions  to  the  Captains,  and  pres^ 
*<ently  after  unto  all  the  rest  of  the  Company.  He  told 
**  them,  he  intended  in  that  Expedition  to  plunder  Puerto 
"  Velo,  and  that  he  would  perform  it  by  night,  being  re/ 
"  solved  to  put  the  whole  City  to  the  sack,  not  the  least 
"corner  escaping  his  diligence.  Moreover,  to  encourage 
"them,  he  added.  This  Enter  prize  could  not  fail  to  sue/ 
"ceed  well,  seeing  he  had  kept  it  secreet  in  his  mind, 
"without  revealing  it  to  any  body ;  whereby  they  could 
"not  have  notice  of  his  coming.  Unto  this  proposition 
"some  made  answer.  They  had  not  a  sufficient  number 
"of  men  wherewith  to  assault  so  strong  and  great  a  City. 
"  But  Captain  Morgan  replied,  If  our  number  is  small,  our 
"hearts  are  great.  And  the  fewer  persons  we  are,  the 
"more  union  and  better  shares  we  shall  have  in  the  spoil. 
"  Hereupon,  being  stimulated  with  the  ambition  of  those 
"vast  Riches  they  promised  themselves  from  their  good 
"success,  they  unanimously  concluded  to  venture  upon 
"  that  design.  But  now,  to  the  intent  my  Reader  may  bet/ 
"ter  comprehend  the  incomparable  boldness  of  this  Ex/ 
"ploit,  it  may  be  necessary  to  say  something  before/hand 
"  of  the  City  of  Puerto  Velo. 

"The  City,  which  beareth  this  name  in  America,  is 
"  seated  in  the  Province  of  Costa  Rica,  under  the  altitude 
"  of  ten  degrees  Northern  latitude,  at  the  distance  of  four/ 
"teen  leagues  from  the  Gulf  of  Darien,  and  eight  West/ 
*  *  wards  from  the  Port  called  Nombre  de  Dios.  It  is  judged 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  57 

"to  be  the  strongest  place  that  the  King  of  Spain  pos/ 
**  sesseth  in  all  the  West /Indies,  excepting  two,  that  is  to 
*  *  say,  Havana  and  Cartagena.  Here  are  two  Castles,  almost 
"  inexpugnable,  that  defend  the  City,  being  situated  at  the 
'*  entry  of  the  Port ;  so  that  no  Ship  nor  Boat  can  pass  with/ 
"out  permission.  The  Garrison  consisteth  of  three  hun/ 
"dred  Souldiers,  and  the  Town  constantly  inhabited  by 
"four  hundred  Families,  more  or  less.  The  Merchants 
"dwell  not  here,  but  onely  reside  for  a  while,  when  the 
"Galeons  come  or  go  from  Spain ;  by  reason  of  the  un/ 
"  healthiness  of  the  Air,  occasioned  by  certain  Vapours 
"  that  exhale  from  the  Mountains.  Notwithstanding,  their 
"  chief  Ware/houses  are  at  Puerto  Velo,  howbeit  their 
"Habitations  be  all  the  year  long  at  Panama.  From 
"whence  they  bring  the  Plate  upon  Mules,  at  such 
"times  as  the  Fair  beginneth ;  and  when  the  Ships,  be/ 
"longing  to  the  Company  of  Negro's,  arrive  here  to  sell 
"Slaves. 

"  Captain  Morgan,  who  knew  very  well  all  the  Ave/ 
"  nues  of  this  City,  as  also  all  the  Neighbouring  Coasts, 
"  arrived  in  the  dusk  of  the  Evening  at  the  place  called 
"  Puerto  de  Naos,  distant  ten  Leagues  towards  the  West 
"of  Puerto  Velo.  Being  come  unto  this  place,  they 
"mounted  the  River  in  their  Ships,  as  far  as  another  Har/ 
"hour  called  Puerto  Pontin ;  where  they  came  to  an  An/ 
"  chor.  Here  they  put  themselves  immediately  into  Boats 
"and  Canows,  leaving  in  the  Ships  onely  a  few  men  to 


58        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

"keep  them,  and  conduct  them  the  next  day  unto  the 
"Port.  About  midnight  they  came  to  a  certain  place 
"called  Estera  longa  Lemos,  where  they  all  went  on 
''  shore,  and  marched  by  land  to  the  first  Posts  of  the  City. 
**  They  had  in  their  company  a  certain  English/man,  who 
"had  been  formerly  a  Prisoner  in  those  parts,  and  who 
"now  served  them  for  a  Guide.  Unto  him  and  three  or 
"four  more,  they  gave  Commission  to  take  the  Centry, 
"if  possible,  or  kill  him  upon  the  place.  But  they  laid 
"  hands  on  him  and  apprehended  him  with  such  cunning, 
"as  he  had  no  time  to  give  warning  with  his  Musket,  or 
"make  any  other  noise.  Thus  they  brought  him,  with 
"  his  hands  bound,  unto  Captain  Morgan,  who  asked  him, 
"How  things  went  in  the  City,  and  what  Forces  they 
"  had :  with  many  other  circumstances,  which  he  was  de/ 
"  sirous  to  know.  After  every  question,  they  made  him  a 
"thousand  menaces  to  kill  him,  in  case  he  declared  not 
"  the  truth.  Thus  they  began  to  advance  towards  the  City, 
"carrying  always  the  said  Centry  bound  before  them. 
"Having  marched  about  one  quarter  of  a  league,  they 
"  came  unto  the  Castle  that  is  nigh  unto  the  City ;  which 
"presently  they  closely  surrounded,  so  that  no  person 
"could  get  either  in  or  out  of  the  said  Fortress. 

"  Being  thus  posted  under  the  walls  of  the  Castle,  Cap/ 
"tain  Morgan  commanded  the  Centry,  whom  they  had 
"  taken  Prisoner,  to  speak  unto  those  that  were  within, 
"  charging  them  to  surrender,  and  deliver  themselves  up 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  59 

"to  his  discretion ;  otherwise  they  should  be  all  cut  in 
**  pieces,  without  giving  quarter  to  any  one.  But  they 
"  would  hearken  to  none  of  these  threats,  beginning  in^ 
"  stantly  to  fire ;  which  gave  notice  unto  the  City,  and  this 
**was  suddenly  alarmed.  Yet  notwithstanding,  although 
**  the  Governour  and  Souldiers  of  the  said  Castle  made  as 
"great  resistance  as  could  be  performed,  they  were  con/ 
"strained  to  surrender  unto  the  Pirats.  These  no  sooner 
"had  taken  the  Castle,  but  they  resolved  to  be  as  good 
"as  their  words,  in  putting  the  Spaniards  to  the  Sword, 
"thereby  to  strike  a  terrour  into  the  rest  of  the  City. 
"  Hereupon,  having  shut  up  all  the  Souldiers  and  Officers, 
"as  Prisoners,  into  one  Room,  they  instantly  set  fire  unto 
"the  Powder  (whereof  they  found  great  quantity)  and 
"blew  up  the  whole  Castle  into  the  air,  with  all  the 
"Spaniards  that  were  within.  This  being  done,  they  pur/ 
"sued  the  course  of  their  Victory,  falling  upon  the  City, 
"  which  as  yet  was  not  in  order  to  receive  them.  Many  of 
"the  Inhabitants  cast  their  precious  Jewels  and  Moneys 
"into  Wells  and  Cisterns,  or  hid  them  in  other  places 
"  under  ground,  to  excuse,  as  much  as  were  possible,  their 
"  being  totally  robbed.  One  party  of  the  Pirats  being  as/ 
"  signed  to  this  purpose,  ran  immediately  to  the  Cloisters, 
"  and  took  as  many  Religious  men  and  women  as  they 
"could  find.  The  Governour  of  the  City  not  being  able 
"  to  rally  the  Citizens,  through  the  huge  confusion  of  the 
"  Town,  retired  unto  one  of  the  Castles  remaining,  and 


6o        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

"from  thence  began  to  fire  incessantly  at  the  Pirats.  But 
"these  were  not  in  the  least  negligent  either  to  assault 
"him,  or  defend  themselves  with  all  the  courage  imagi/ 
"  nable.  Thus  it  was  observable,  that  amidst  the  horrour  of 
"the  Assault,  they  made  very  few  shot  in  vain.  For  aim/ 
"ing  with  great  dexterity  at  the  mouths  of  the  Guns,  the 
"Spaniards  were  certain  to  lose  one  or  two  men  every 
"  time  they  charged  each  Gun  anew. 

"The  assault  of  this  Castle  where  the  Governour was, 
"  continued  very  furious  on  both  sides,  from  break  of  day 
"  until  noon.  Yea,  about  this  time  of  the  day,  the  case  was 
"very  dubious  which  party  should  conquer  or  be  con/ 
"  quered.  At  last  the  Pirats  perceiving  they  had  lost  many 
"  men,  and  as  yet  advanced  but  little  towards  the  gaining 
"  either  this  or  the  other  Castles  remaining,  thought  to 
"make  use  of  Fire/balls,  which  they  threw  with  their 
"hands,  designing,  if  possible,  to  burn  the  doors  of  the 
* '  Castle.  But  going  about  to  put  this  in  execution,  the  Span/ 
"  iards  from  the  Walls  let  fall  great  quantity  of  stones,  and 
"  earthen  pots  full  of  Powder,  and  other  combustible  mat/ 
'  *  ter,  which  forced  them  to  desist  from  that  attempt.  Cap/ 
"tain  Morgan  seeing  this  generous  defence  made  by  the 
"  Spaniards,  began  to  despair  of  the  whole  success  of  the 
"  Enterprize.  Hereupon  many  faint  and  calm  meditations 
"  came  into  his  mind ;  neither  could  he  determine  which 
"way  to  turn  himself  in  that  straitness  of  affairs.  Being 
"involved  in  these  thoughts,  he  was  suddenly  animated 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  61 

••to  continue  the  assault,  by  seeing  the  English  Colours 
••put  forth  at  one  of  the  lesser  Castles,  then  entred  by 
•*  his  men.  Of  whom  he  presently  after  spied  a  Troop  that 
•*  came  to  meet  him,  proclaiming  Victory  with  loud  shouts 
**  of  joy.  This  instantly  put  him  upon  new  resolutions  of 
••making  new  efforts  to  take  the  rest  of  the  Castles  that 
••stood  out  against  him:  Especially  seeing  the  chiefest 
•*  Citizens  were  fled  unto  them,  and  had  conveyed  thither 
••great  part  of  their  Riches,  with  all  the  plate  belonging 
*•  to  the  Churches,  and  other  things  dedicated  to  Divine 
••Service. 

••Unto  this  effect  therefore  he  ordered  ten  or  twelve 
••  Ladders  to  be  made,  in  all  possible  haste,  so  broad,  that 
••  three  or  four  men  at  once  might  ascend  by  them.  These 
•*  being  finished,  he  commanded  all  the  Religious  men  and 
••women  whom  he  had  taken  Prisoners,  to  fix  them 
••against  the  Walls  of  the  Castle.  Thus  much  he  had  be/ 
••fore/hand  threatned  the  Governour  to  perform,  in  case 
••he  delivered  not  the  Castle.  But  his  answer  was.  He 
••would  never  surrender  himself  alive.  Captain  Morgan 
"was  much  perswaded  that  the  Governour  would  not 
"employ  his  utmost  Forces,  seeing  Religious  women, 
"and  Ecclesiastical  persons,  exposed  in  the  Front  of  the 
••Souldiers  to  the  greatest  dangers.  Thus  the  Ladders, 
••as  I  have  said,  were  put  into  the  hands  of  Religious 
••persons  of  both  Sexes;  and  these  were  forced,  at  the 
**  head  of  the  Companies,  to  raise  and  apply  them  to  the 


62         ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

"Walls.  But  Captain  Morgan  was  fully  deceived  in  his 
**  judgment  of  this  design.  For  the  Governour,  who  acted 
**like  a  brave  and  couragious  Souldier,  refused  not,  in 
"performance  of  his  duty,  to  use  his  utmost  endeavours 
"to  destroy  whosoever  came  near  the  Walls.  The  Reli/ 
"gious  men  and  women  ceased  not  to  cry  unto  him  and 
"  beg  of  him  by  all  the  Saints  of  Heaven,  he  would  de-' 
"liver  the  Castle,  and  hereby  spare  both  his  and  their  own 
"lives.  But  nothing  could  prevail  with  the  obstinacy  and 
"  fierceness  that  had  possessed  the  Governour's  mind.  Thus 
**many  of  the  Religious  men  and  Nuns  were  killed  be*' 
"fore  they  could  fix  the  Ladders.  Which  at  last  being 
"done,  though  with  great  loss  of  the  said  Religious  peo/ 
"  pie,  the  Pirats  mounted  them  in  great  numbers,  and  with 
"no  less  valour ;  having  Fire/balls  in  their  hands,  and 
"  Earthen/pots  full  of  Powder.  All  which  things,  being 
"  now  at  the  top  of  the  Walls,  they  kindled  and  cast  in 
"among  the  Spaniards. 

**  This  effort  of  the  Pirats  was  very  great :  Insomuch  as 
**  the  Spaniards  could  no  longer  resist  nor  defend  the  Castle, 
**  which  was  now  entred.  Hereupon  they  all  threw  down 
"  their  Arms,  and  craved  quarter  for  their  lives.  Onely  the 
"  Governour  of  the  City  would  admit  nor  crave  no  mercy ; 
"  but  rather  killed  many  of  the  Pirats  with  his  own  hands, 
"and  not  a  few  of  his  own  Souldiers,  because  they  did 
"not  stand  to  their  Arms.  And  although  the  Pirats  asked 
"  him  if  he  would  have  quarter,  yet  he  constantly  an/ 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  63 

« swer'd,  By  no  means :  I  had  rather  die  as  a  valiant  Soul/ 

*  dier,  than  be  hanged  as  a  Coward.  They  endeavoured, 
'  as  much  as  they  could,  to  take  him  Prisoner.  But  he 
'  defended  himself  so  obstinately,  as  that  they  were  forced 
*to  kill  him;  notwithstanding  all  the  cries  and  tears  of 

*  his  own  Wife  and  Daughter,  who  begged  of  him  upon 

*  their  knees  he  would  demand  quarter  and  save  his  life. 
'  When  the  Pirats  had  possessed  themselves  of  the  Castle, 

*  which  was  about  night,  they  enclosed  therein  all  the 

*  Prisoners  they  had  taken,  placing  the  women  and  men 

*  by  themselves,  with  some  Guards  upon  them.  All  the 

*  wounded  were  put  into  a  certain  apartment  by  it  self, 

*  to  the  intent  their  own  complaints  might  be  the  cure 

*  of  their  diseases ;  for  no  other  was  afforded  them. 

"  This  being  done,  they  fell  to  eating  and  drinking, 
'  after  their  usual  manner ;  that  is  to  say,  committing  in 

*  both  these  things  all  manner  of  debauchery  and  excess. 

*  These  two  vices  were  immediately  followed  by  many 
'  insolent  actions  of  Rape  and  Adultery  committed  upon 
'many  very  honest  women,  as  well  married  as  Virgins: 

*  Who  being  threatned  with  the  Sword,  were  constrained 

*  to  submit  their  bodies  to  the  violence  of  those  lewd  and 

*  wicked  men.  After  such  manner  they  delivered  them/ 

*  selves  up  unto  all  sort  of  debauchery  of  this  kind,  that 

*  if  there  had  been  found  onely  fifty  courageous  men,  they 
'might  easily  have  retaken  the  City,  and  killed  all  the 
'Pirats.  The  next  day,  having  plundred  all  they  could  find, 


64        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

"they  began  to  examine  some  of  the  Prisoners  (who  had 
**  been  perswaded  by  their  Companions  to  say,  they  were 
*'  the  richest  of  the  Town)  charging  them  severely,  to  dis/ 
**  cover  where  they  had  hidden  their  Riches  and  Goods. 
**But  not  being  able  to  extort  anything  out  of  them,  as 
**  who  were  not  the  right  persons  that  possessed  any  wealth, 
"they  at  last  resolved  to  torture  them.  This  they  per/ 
"  formed  with  such  cruelty,  that  many  of  them  died  upon 
"the  Rack,  or  presently  after.  Soon  after,  the  President 
"of  Panama  had  news  brought  him  of  the  pillage  and 
"mine  of  Puerto  Velo.  This  intelligence  caused  him 
"to  employ  all  his  care  and  industry  to  raise  Forces, 
"with  design  to  pursue  and  cast  out  the  Pirats  from 
"thence.  But  these  cared  little  for  what  extraordinary 
"  means  the  President  used,  as  having  their  Ships  nigh  at 
"  hand,  and  being  determined  to  set  fire  unto  the  City, 
"and  retreat.  They  had  now  been  at  Puerto  Velo  fifteen 
"  days,  in  which  space  of  time  they  had  lost  many  of  their 
"men,  both  by  the  unhealthiness  of  the  Country  and  the 
"extravagant  Debaucheries  they  had  committed. 

"Hereupon  they  prepared  for  a  departure,  carrying  on 
"Board  their  Ships  all  the  Pillage  they  had  gotten.  But 
"before  all,  they  provided  the  Fleet  with  sufficient  Vict/ 
"uals  for  the  Voyage.  While  these  things  were  getting 
"ready.  Captain  Morgan  sent  an  Injunction  unto  the  Pris/ 
"oners,  that  they  should  pay  him  a  Ransom  for  the  City, 
"or  else  he  would  by  fire  consume  it  to  ashes,  and  blow 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  65 

"up  all  the  Castles  into  the  air.  Withal,  he  commanded 
**  them  to  send  speedily  two  persons  to  seek  and  procure 
<*  the  sum  he  demanded,  which  amounted  unto  one  hun^ 
**dred  thousand  pieces  of  Eight.  Unto  this  effect,  two 
**men  were  sent  to  the  President  of  Panama,  who  gave 
**him  an  account  of  all  these  Tragedies.  The  President 
**  having  now  a  body  of  men  in  a  readiness,  set  forth  im/ 
"mediately  towards  Puerto  Velo,  to  encounter  the  Pirats 
**  before  their  retreat.  But  these  People  hearing  of  his 
**  coming,  instead  of  flying  away  went  out  to  meet  him 
"at  a  narrow  passage,  through  which  of  necessity  he 
"ought  to  pass.  Here  they  placed  an  hundred  men  very 
"well  arm'd ;  the  which,  at  the  first  Encounter,  put  to 
"flight  a  good  party  of  those  of  Panama.  This  Accident 
"  obliged  the  President  to  retire  jfor  that  time,  as  not  be/ 
"  ing  yet  in  a  posture  of  strength  to  proceed  any  farther. 
"  Presently  after  this  Rencounter,  he  sent  a  Message  unto 
"Captain  Morgan,  to  tell  him,  That  in  case  he  departed 
"not  suddenly  with  all  his  Forces  from  Puerto  Velo,  he 
"  ought  to  expect  no  quarter  for  himself  nor  his  Compan/ 
"ions,  when  he  should  take  them,  as  he  hoped  soon  to 
"do.  Captain  Morgan,  who  feared  not  his  Threats,  as 
"knowing  he  had  a  secure  retreat  in  his  Ships  which 
"  were  nigh  at  hand,  made  him  answer,  He  would  not 
"deliver  the  Castles  before  he  had  received  the  Contri/ 
"  bution/money  he  had  demanded.  Which  in  case  it  were 
"not  paid  down,  he  would  certainly  burn  the  whole  City, 


66        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

"  and  then  leave  it ;  demolishing  before^hand  the  Castles, 
**  and  killing  the  Prisoners." 

According  to  Exquemelin's  account,  the  Governor 
of  Panama  decided  that  further  efforts  on  behalf  of  the 
people  of  Puerto  Bello  would  be  unavailing  and  he  left  the 
citizens  to  their  own  resources.  Whether  this  is  true,  or 
whether,  as  Morgan  states,  the  ransom  was  paid  by  the 
**  President  of  Panama  "  or  by  the  citizens  themselves,  it 
appears  certain  that  the  large  sum  of  one  hundred  thou^ 
sand  pieces  of  eight  was  delivered  to  Morgan.  The  Gov/ 
ernor  of  Panama  appears  to  have  had  some  sportsmanlike 
qualities,  however,  and  Morgan  a  grim  sense  of  humour, 
because  the  former,  impressed  by  the  effectiveness  of  the 
arms  used  by  Morgan's  men,  sent  a  messenger  to  him  to 
ask  for  a  "pattern  of  those  arms  wherewith  he  had  taken 
"  with  such  violence  so  great  a  city."  Captain  Morgan 
received  the  messenger  with  great  civility  and  sent  by  him 
to  the  Governor  a  pistol  with  a  few  bullets  and  a  message 
to  the  effect  that  **  He  desired  him  to  accept  that  slender 
**  pattern  of  the  arms  wherewith  he  had  taken  Porto  Bello, 
**  and  keep  them  for  a  twelvemonth,  after  which  time, 
**  he  promised  to  come  to  Panama  and  fetch  them  away." 
The  pistol  was  returned  with  a  courteous  suggestion  that 
Captain  Morgan,  if  he  did  come,  would  not  fare  so  well 
as  he  had  at  Puerto  Bello. 

After  loading  on  his  ships  the  best  of  the  guns  from 
the  fortifications  and  spiking  the  rest,  Morgan  proceeded 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  67 

with  his  ships  to  a  quiet  harbour  on  the  coast  of  Cuba 
and  made  distribution  of  the  booty  gathered  on  this  ex/ 
pedition.  If  the  value  at  that  time  of  a  dollar  of  to-day  is 
taken  into  consideration,  the  amount  divided  was  an  enor/ 
mous  sum,  amounting  to  some  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  pieces  of  eight,  equivalent  in  purchasing  value 
to-'day  to  approximately  one  million  American  dollars. 
The  value  of  the  cloths,  silks,  and  other  merchandise 
taken  was  also  considerable  in  nearly  all  of  the  successful 
ventures. 

From  Cuba  the  vessels  went  to  their  customary  rendez/ 
vous  in  Jamaica,  where  Governor  Modyford  was  put  to 
some  inconvenience  to  determine  how  to  receive  Captain 
Morgan,  whose  commission  had  authorized  attacks  on 
ships  only.  It  would  appear,  however,  from  his  report  sent 
to  the  Duke  of  Albemarle,  that  either  the  real  safety  of 
the  colony  or  the  ingenuity  of  the  resourceful  Morgan 
satisfied  him  that,  as  Morgan's  report  showed  that  both 
in  Cuba  and  at  Puerto  Bello  preparations  had  been  under 
way  for  an  expedition  against  Jamaica,  the  actions  of  Cap/ 
tain  Morgan  were  justifiable. 

Whether  less  drastic  operations  by  the  privateers  would 
have  averted  or  postponed  open  war  with  Spain  is  uncer/ 
tain,  but  in  view  of  the  attacks  which  had  successfully 
been  made,  reprisals  were  to  be  expected,  and  Governor 
Modyford  enlisted  the  active  co/operation  of  Morgan  in 
following  up  the  advantages  already  gained.  An  expedi/ 


68        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

tion  was  planned  to  the  coast  of  Venezuela  with  Mara^ 
caibo  as  the  chief  objective.  In  the  autumn  of  1668, 
Morgan  arranged  to  gather  together  a  fleet  of  privateers 
at  the  Isle  le  Vache,  Hispaniola,  and  took  there  with  him 
ten  vessels  and  some  eight  hundred  men  from  Jamaica. 
He  was  joined  by  many  other  privateers,  both  English 
and  French,  and  by  His  Majesty's  frigate  ** Oxford" 
(thirty^four  guns)  which  had  been  sent  at  the  urgent  re/ 
quest  of  Modyford,  to  the  end  that  the  expedition  should 
not  only  have  its  legitimacy  made  more  certain,  but  that 
some  effective  restraint  should  be  exercised  over  the  some/ 
what  unruly  privateers. 

On  the  second  of  January,  1669,  a  council  of  war  was 
held  and  plans  arranged  both  as  to  intercepting  an  ex/ 
pected  Spanish  fleet  and  for  a  proposed  attack  upon  Car/ 
tagena.  At  a  dinner  of  the  commanders  on  board  the 
"Oxford,"  following  the  council,  an  explosion  occurred, 
wrecking  the  ship.  A  number  of  the  oflicers  and  two 
hundred  or  more  men  were  lost,  included  among  whom 
were  some  of  the  crew  of  a  French  vessel,  held  as  prison/ 
ers  under  the  charge  that  they  had  wantonly  attacked  and 
looted  an  English  merchantman. 

The  French  captain,  who  was  not  among  those  lost, 
was  subsequently  convicted  of  piracy  at  Jamaica  and  his 
ship,  the  **  Cour  Volant "  (afterwards  renamed  the  **  Satis/ 
"faction"),  confiscated.  It  is  evident  that  Modyford  had 
some  doubt  as  to  the  weight  of  the  evidence  communi/ 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  69 

cated  by  Morgan,  as  he  granted  the  French  commander 
a  reprieve,  but  he  did  not  return  his  ship  which  subset 
quently  became  Morgan's  flag^ship.  The  loss  incurred  by 
the  explosion  and  certain  defections  caused  Morgan  to 
give  up  for  the  moment  the  more  ambitious  plan  to  attack 
Cartagena  and  he  reverted  to  his  original  objective  of 
Maracaibo.  In  March,  with  eight  vessels  and  about  five 
hundred  men,  he  bombarded  and  overcame  the  forts  at 
the  entrance  to  Lake  Maracaibo  and  entered  the  town 
itself  without  serious  opposition.  The  power  to  resist  on 
the  part  of  the  garrison  and  inhabitants  was  greatly  les/ 
sened  because  less  than  two  years  before  the  place  had 
been  sacked  by  the  notorious  French  buccaneers  L'Olon/ 
nais  and  le  Basque.  The  description  by  Exquemelin  of 
the  plundering  of  this  place  and  the  treatment  of  the  peo/ 
pie  is  not  a  cheerful  tale. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  provocation,  the  excesses 
seem  to  have  been  extreme.  Much  booty  was  collected 
and  terms  of  ransom  arranged.  With  certain  of  the  citi/ 
zens  as  hostages,  Morgan  betook  himself,  men,  and  ships 
to  an  anchorage  off  the  town  of  Maracaibo  and  awaited 
the  ransom  money.  Meantime  three  large  Spanish  men/ 
of/war  had  arrived  off  the  entrance  to  the  Lake,  and  by 
some  means  the  forts  at  the  entrance  had  been  newly 
manned  while  Morgan  had  been  pillaging  the  settlements 
at  the  farther  end  of  the  Lake.  Morgan  displayed  that 
courage  and  quick  resourcefulness  which  always  distin/ 


70        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

guished  him.  Gaining  a  short  respite  by  entering  into 
correspondence  with  the  Spanish  Admiral,  he  prepared 
a  fire/ship  in  the  guise  of  a  man/of'war.  Then  without 
delay  he  seized  the  advantage  which  always  in  naval  war/ 
fare  obtains  to  the  attacker  and  bore  down  on  the  Spanish 
ships.  The  fire/ship  grappled  with  the  flag/ship  the 
**  Almirante  "  (of  forty  guns),  the  second  of  the  Spanish 
ships  was  forced  to  run  aground  where  she  was  fired  by 
her  own  crew,  while  the  third  was  captured  by  Morgan. 
From  the  burning  "Almirante"  he  secured  some  twenty 
thousand  pieces  of  eight,  partially  molten  by  the  great 
heat.  With  the  ransom,  amounting  to  another  twenty 
thousand,  and  about  five  hundred  head  of  cattle  safely 
aboard,  he  cleverly  slipped  by  the  forts  at  the  entrance  and 
by  the  end  of  May,  with  his  fleet,  was  safely  anchored 
at  Port  Royal,  Jamaica. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  Spanish  Court  did  not  view 
these  events  in  a  friendly  spirit,  and  the  Ambassador  of 
Spain  in  England  did  not  profess  satisfaction  with  the 
English  explanation  that  the  West  Indies  were  excluded 
from  the  mutual  treaty  obligations.  For  a  brief  interval 
operations  against  the  Spanish  in  the  West  Indies  were 
suspended,  but  in  the  spring  of  1669,  Spain  began  active 
reprisals.  For  a  period  the  tables  were  turned.  A  fleet  of 
six  war  vessels,  several  of  good  size  and  well  armed,  came 
out  from  Spain  with  orders  which  were  intended  to  make 
effective  replies  to  unsatisfactory  explanations  given  at 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  71 

London.  English  merchant  ships  were  plundered.  Pri/ 
vateers  were  commissioned  by  the  Governors  of  Puerto 
Bello  and  other  Spanish  strongholds.  Jamaica  was  filled 
with  stories  of  destruction  and  cruelties.  Modyford  ap/ 
pears  to  have  been  under  orders  from  home  to  commit  no 
acts  of  open  war  and  earnestly  besought  the  home  Gov/ 
ernment  to  give  him  power  to  act  at  his  discretion. 

The  necessity  for  action  was  hastened  by  the  landing 
on  the  north  side  of  Jamaica,  in  June,  1670,  of  a  Spanish 
expedition  from  Cuba  brought  thence  in  two  men/of ^war 
from  St.  Jago  de  Cuba.  The  size  of  the  landing/party  was 
too  small  to  do  more  than  a  moderate  amount  of  damage 
and  then  quickly  to  leave  the  island.  The  torch  was  lit/ 
erally  lighted.  Modyford  sent  for  Morgan  and  gave  him 
a  commission  as  Commander/in/Chief  of  all  ships  of  war 
attached  to  Jamaica  and  permission  to  collect  all  available 
privateers.  His  instructions  and  authority  were  not  limited 
to  the  defence  of  the  island,  but  permitted  him  to  seize 
and  destroy  enemy  ships  and  to  attack  any  ports  where 
there  existed  materials  or  vessels  useftil  to  the  enemy  for 
the  war.  The  instructions  include  permission  to  Morgan 
to  advise  his  men,  in  respect  to  prospective  booty,  **that 
**they  shall  have  all  the  goods,  merchandises,  etc.  which 
"  may  be  got  in  this  expedition  to  be  divided  amongst  them 
"according  to  their  usual  rules."*  As  it  was  the  expedi/ 

♦  In  this  division  the  rules  required  the  setting  apart  of  one  fifteenth  for  the 
King  and  one  tenth  for  the  Admiral,  at  this  time  the  Duke  of  York.  According 
to  Exquemelin,  Morgan  received  one  hundredth  part,  every  Captain  the  share 


72        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

tion  which  Morgan  now  undertook,  more  even  than  those 
previously  commanded  by  him,  which  earned  for  Mor/ 
gan  a  reputation  for  piracy,  it  is  well  to  note  these  instruct 
tions  which  were  to  guide  him  as  well  as  the  conditions 
which  led  to  the  orders  being  given.  That  the  Governor 
and  Council  of  Jamaica  had  in  mind  the  necessity  for  a 
clear  record  to  justify  their  action,  particularly  in  view 
of  the  moderation  urged  by  the  home  Government,  is 
shown  by  the  extensive  records  in  the  Council  Minutes. 
The  resolution  of  the  Council  recites  that  **.  .  .the 
<*  Queen  Regent  of  Spain  did,  by  her  Scedula  dated  at 
"  Madrid  the  20th  of  April,  1669,  command  her  respec/ 
"tive  governors  in  the  Indies  to  make  open  war  against 
"the  subjects  of  our  Sovereign  Lord  the  King  in  those 
"  parts,  and  also  that  the  Governor  of  St.  Jago  de  Cuba 
"  hath  executed  the  same  by  granting  commissions  of  war 
**  against  us,  and  lately  in  a  most  hostile  manner  landed 
'*his  men  in  three  places  of  the  north  side  of  this  island, 
**  marching  as  far  as  he  durst  into  the  country,  burning  all 
**  the  houses  they  came  at,  killing  and  taking  prisoners  all 
**the  inhabitants  they  could  meet  with ; . . .  That  divers 
"  of  the  rest  of  the  Spanish  governors  have  granted  com/ 
"missions and  are  levying  forces  against  us,  and  have  (as 
"  we  are  credibly  informed)  made  St.  Jago  of  Cuba  their 
"present  magazine  and  their  rendezvous,  where  there  re/ 

of  eight  men,  and  extra  allotments  were  made  to  various  persons  and  as  com- 
pensation for  various  services  and  casualties. 


•  SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  73 

**  spective  forces  are  to  embody  and  unite  for  the  speedy 
"invasion  of  this  island.  . .  ." 

The  resolution  of  the  Council  conveys  to  the  Governor 
the  exceptional  authority  needed  to  deal  with  the  situa/ 
tion  and  then  urges  him  to  grant  a  commission  **  to  Ad/ 
**  miral  Henry  Morgan  to  be  Admiral  and  Commander /in/ 
'*  Chief  of  all  the  ships  of  war  belonging  to  this  harbour, 
"...  and  requiring  him  with  all  possible  speed  to  draw 
**  them  into  one  fleet,  and  with  them  to  put  to  sea  for  the 
"security  of  the  coasts  .  .  .  and  to  attack  and  seize,  and 
"destroy  all  the  enemy's  vessels  that  come  within  his 
"  reach ;  and  also  for  destroying  the  stores  and  magazines 
"  laid  up  for  this  war  . . .  and  that  he  have  power  to  land 
"in  the  enemy's  country  as  many  of  his  men  as  he  shall 
"judge  needful,  and  with  them  to  march  out  to  such 
"places  as  he  shall  be  informed  the  said  magazines  and 
"forces  are ;  .  . .  and  finally  to  do  all  manner  of  exploits 
"which  may  tend  to  the  preservation  and  quiet  of  this 
"island,  being  his  Majesty's  chief  interest  in  the  In/ 
"dies " 

As  we  know  that  Morgan  had  a  sense  of  humour,  it 
seems  certain  that  he  must  have  chuckled  over  the  au/ 
thority  "  to  do  all  manner  of  exploits."  Certainly  no  cour/ 
ageous  seaman,  untrammelled  by  an  over/delicate  sense 
of  merciful  justice,  could  have  asked  for  more  sweeping 
authority.  Whatever  may  have  been  his  behaviour  and 
that  of  those  under  him  on  this  expedition,  it  cannot  be 


74        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

maintained  that  the  saving  cloak  of  legality  did  not  en/ 
velop  him,  notwithstanding  the  somewhat  half /hearted 
moderation  given  to  these  instructions  later. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  August,  1670,  Morgan  sailed 
from  Jamaica  with  eleven  vessels  and  six  hundred  men 
for  his  usual  rendezvous  at  Hispaniola,  where  in  due 
course  his  fleet  was  augmented  until  he  had  under  him 
some  thirty/six  ships,  all  but  eight  of  which  were  built  in 
England. 

While  engaged  in  getting  together,  provisioning  and 
equipping  his  fleet,  Morgan  despatched  various  vessels 
to  collect  information  and  supplies  from  the  Cuban  and 
South/ American  coasts.  Meanwhile  negotiations  were 
under  way  at  Madrid  and  a  peace  treaty  seemed  so  immi/ 
nent  that  Modyford  received  instructions  from  England 
to  direct  the  privateers  to  forbear  all  hostilities  on  land 
against  the  Spaniards.  These  instructions  had  been  com/ 
municated  to  Morgan  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  from 
Jamaica,  and  it  appears  to  have  been  understood  between 
them  that,  while  necessity  would  compel  Morgan  to  send 
men  ashore  for  water  and  provisions,  no  attacks  would  be 
made  unless  he  found  preparations  under  way  hostile  to 
the  safety  of  Jamaica. 

It  is  evident  that  little  confidence  was  felt  in  Jamaica 
in  the  eflicacy  of  any  "scraps  of  paper"  signed  at  Ma/ 
drid  to  protect  the  island,  as  Governor  Modyford  contin/ 
ued  to  exert  himself  to  help  strengthen  Morgan's  fleet  at 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  75 

Hispaniola,  sending  him  from  time  to  time  additional 
vessels  and  men.  By  the  first  of  December,  Morgan  found 
his  fleet  of  thirty/six  ships  manned  by  some  eighteen  hun/ 
dred  men  in  readiness  for  sailing.  At  a  Council  of  War  it 
was  determined  to  give  up  or  postpone  a  contemplated 
attack  on  St.  Jago  de  Cuba  and  that  the  safety  of  Jamaica 
would  be  best  served  by  taking  Panama,  the  Governor  of 
which  had  been  particularly  active  in  granting  commis/ 
sions  to  privateers  against  the  English. 

It  may  be  suspected  that  Morgan's  boast  to  the  Gov/ 
ernor  of  Panama  that  he  would  return  within  the  twelve/ 
month  may  have  had  some  influence  on  the  plans.  By  the 
middle  of  December,  Providence  Island  was  taken,  guides 
to  the  Panama  shore  paths  obtained,  and  about  the  twen/ 
tieth,  three  ships  with  some  four  hundred  and  fifty  men 
were  sent  forward  to  capture  and  silence  the  forts  at  the 
entrance  to  the  Chagres  River.  Word  had  reached  Panama 
from  Cartagena  of  the  impending  attack  and  the  garri/ 
sons  at  the  entrance  forts  had  been  greatly  re^enforced,  as 
had  those  at  Puerto  Bello.  Exquemelin,  who,  although 
possibly  unreliable  as  to  details  affecting  Morgan,  was 
certainly  an  eye/wimess,  gives  a  detailed  account  of  the 
actions  which  took  place. 

The  detachment  of  Morgan's  men  landed  about  three 
miles  from  the  fort  or  castle  of  San  Lorenzo  early  in  the 
morning.  They  were  troubled  by  the  open  space  near  the 
castle  which  exposed  them  to  fire  when  in.  a  position 


76        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

which  did  not  enable  them  to  effectively  return  it.  It  was 
necessary,  therefore,  to  risk  an  immediate  assault.  At  first 
this  was  not  successful;  but  through  a  fortunate  accident, 
according  to  Exquemelin,  the  thatched  roofs  of  the 
houses  within  the  castle  walls  were  set  on  fire  by  flaming 
arrows,  and  in  the  consequent  confusion  they  captured 
the  outside  palisades  and  ultimately,  the  next  day,  the  cas/ 
tie  itself.  The  Governor,  who  had  commanded  the  de-' 
fence  in  person,  was  killed.  Both  the  attack  and  defence 
had  been  conducted  with  great  bravery  and  the  losses 
were  severe.  Of  over  three  hundred  men  within  the  cas*' 
tie  not  over  thirty  were  left  alive,  although  a  few  others 
were  said  to  have  escaped  and  fled  to  Panama  with  the 
news  of  the  disaster. 

Upon  Morgan's  arrival  with  the  rest  of  his  fleet  a  few 
days  after  the  capture  of  the  castle,  he  had  the  misfortune 
to  wreck  his  flag/ship  and  several  smaller  vessels  on  the 
bar  at  the  entrance  to  the  Chagres  River. 

He  did  not  make  the  mistake  made  at  Maracaibo  and 
leave  the  fort  at  the  entrance  unguarded ;  but  he  repaired 
the  castle  walls,  and  left  three  hundred  men  to  defend  it 
and  protect  the  anchored  fleet.  With  about  fourteen  hun/ 
dred  in  a  few  of  the  smaller  vessels  and  a  fleet  of  canoes 
he  started  forward  on  the  ninth  of  January,  1 67 1 ,  to  attack 
Panama.  After  travelling  one  day  and  a  portion  of  another 
by  the  river,  they  were  forced  by  low  water  to  leave  their 
boats.  About  one  hundred  and  seventy^five  men  were  left 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  .  77 

to  guard  the  boats,  and  on  the  third  day  they  began  a  diffi/ 
cult  march  overland  with  assistance  rendered  by  some  of 
the  smaller  canoes.  On  the  fourth  day  they  found  an 
abandoned  ambuscade  of  the  Spaniards,  who  either  through 
knowledge  that  they  were  oumumbered  or  in  a  panic  had 
retreated  without  offering  resistance.  Morgan  had  de/ 
pended  upon  the  country  for  sustenance  and  found  that 
the  Spaniards  had  been  careful  to  leave  no  provisions  be/ 
hind  them ;  he  was  consequently  hard  put  to  find  food  for 
his  men.  On  the  fifth  day  they  encountered  another 
freshly  abandoned  ambuscade,  but  no  provisions.  The 
men,  worn  out  with  the  hard  marches  through  tropical 
forests,  were  indeed  reduced  to  extremity ;  but  for  the  for/ 
tunate  discovery  of  a  small  quantity  of  meal  and  grain  in 
sacks  hidden  in  a  cave  or  grotto,  together  with  a  quan/ 
tity  of  wine  and  plantains,  the  expedition  might  have  been 
wiped  out  by  hunger  and  the  illnesses  certain  to  follow 
exposure  to  the  tropical  climate  while  in  a  weakened  con/ 
dition.  Somewhat  strengthened  by  the  food,  they  contin/ 
ued  their  march  on  the  sixth  day  and  happily  found  a  barn 
full  of  maize.  The  report  of  Morgan  and  the  account  by 
Exquemelin  differ  as  to  the  exact  day  on  which  the 
events  of  this  weary  march  took  place,  but  agree  as  to  the 
chief  incidents. 

The  suffering  was  great ;  but  in  spite  of  murmurings 
Morgan  seems  to  have  kept  his  men  well  in  hand.  On  the 
seventh  day,  with  their  supply  of  maize  exhausted  and 


78        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

their  stomachs  empty,  they  were  cheered  by  the  sight  of 
a  village  with  many  wreaths  of  curling  smoke  indicating 
the  preparation  of  food.  With  a  rush  the  place  was  in^ 
vaded.  It  was  empty  of  both  people  and  provisions  and 
the  smoke  was  caused  by  the  thatched  houses  themselves 
which  had  been  set  alight  by  the  fleeing  Spaniards  and 
Indians.  At  this  village,  about  eight  Spanish  leagues  from 
Panama,  the  small  canoes,  which  up  to  this  point  had  been 
of  help  particularly  to  those  weakened  by  hunger  or  ill/ 
ness,  had  to  be  abandoned,  with  a  small  company  who 
were  directed  to  take  them  back  to  the  place  where  the 
boats  had  been  left  under  guard.  On  the  eighth  day  Mor/ 
gan  sent  a  reconnoitring  body  of  two  hundred  men  to 
search  out  the  best  path  to  Panama.  This  body,  while 
passing  through  a  place  called  Quebrada  Obscura,  were 
suddenly  the  target  for  thousands  of  arrows,  shot  appar/ 
ently  from  invisible  crevices  in  a  neighbouring  moun/ 
tain/side.  Notwithstanding  their  attempted  defence  and 
the  quick  flight  of  the  Indians  who  had  made  up  the  at/ 
tacking  force,  the  Captain  of  the  party  and  a  substantial 
number  of  his  men  were  killed. 

That  night  a  heavy  rain  came,  and  Morgan  found  it 
necessary  to  push  forward  not  only  because  of  the  need 
for  food,  but  to  get  shelter  where  his  ammunition  could  be 
kept  dry.  On  the  ninth  day  things  looked  brighter.  The 
ocean  was  in  sight  and  they  could  distinguish  vessels  and 
islands  oflFthe  shore.  They  came  into  a  valley  well  stocked 


,  SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  79 

with  cattle,  and  building  fires  they  rested  and  feasted  upon 
the  flesh  which  in  their  hunger  and  haste  was  scarcely- 
cooked.  With  a  smaller  body  in  front  to  do  scout  duty, 
Morgan  pressed  on.  Before  night  the  steeple  of  a  church 
in  Panama  could  be  seen.  A  reconnoitring  party  of  horse/ 
men  from  the  city  viewed  their  camp  that  night  and  an 
unsuccessflil  attempt  was  made  to  reach  the  camp  by  shots 
from  the  largest  guns  within  the  city.  Early  on  the  tenth 
day,  Morgan  began  his  march  for  the  city,  not  by  the 
direct  road,  but  through  an  irksome  and  roundabout 
way,  through  which  he  was  led  by  one  of  his  competent 
guides.  An  approach  from  the  direction  taken  was  not 
expected  by  the  Spanish,  their  batteries  were  not  in  po/ 
sition  for  effective  use,  and  they  were  forced  to  come 
out  and  meet  Morgan  with  a  force  consisting  of  two  squad/ 
rons,  four  regiments  of  foot,  and  a  large  number  of  wild 
bulls  driven  by  Indians  and  negroes.  It  was  indeed  a  for/ 
midable  force  for  Morgan's  worn/out  men  to  encounter, 
and  Exquemelin  confesses  that  but  for  the  fact  that  no 
quarter  could  be  expected  and  no  way  of  escape  was  open, 
many  of  the  men  that  day  would  have  lacked  the  cour/ 
age  to  fight  at  all.  As  it  was  they  had  to  fight  resolutely 
or  die. 

After  two  hours  of  severe  fighting,  with  great  bravery 
shown  on  each  side,  the  victory  was  with  Morgan,  and  the 
remnants  of  the  Spanish  body  fled  back  into  the  city. 
Morgan's  men  were  too  harassed  and  wearied  with  their 


8o        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

fighting  and  days  of  marching  to  immediately  follow  up 
the  advantage  gained. 

From  prisoners  taken  Morgan  learned  the  strength  of 
the  Spanish  forces,  which  were  reported  to  amount  in  all 
to  four  hundred  horse,  twenty/four  companies  of  foot- 
and  two  thousand  wild  bulls  (upon  which  great  depend/ 
ence  was  placed  to  make  havoc  when  caused  to  run 
through  the  English  camp). 

The  various  reports  of  the  actual  number  of  Spaniards 
engaged  in  the  defence  of  the  city  are  conflicting.  Mor/ 
gan  in  his  report  states  the  numbers  to  have  been  twenty/ 
one  hundred  foot  and  six  hundred  horse.  The  report  sent 
to  Spain  by  the  President  of  Panama  gives  the  numbers 
as  fourteen  hundred  negroes,  Indians  and  slaves,  all,  ac/ 
cording  to  his  report,  badly  armed ;  his  report  also  states 
that  his  artillery  consisted  of  wooden  guns  covered  with 
hides. 

Morgan  and  Exquemelin  both  state  that  there  were 
several  raised  batteries  with  many  guns,  and  that  at  the 
point  where  the  highway  entered  the  city  the  Spaniards 
had  erected  a  fort  and  mounted  eight  brass  guns  of  large 
size.  Morgan  even  specifies  the  exact  number  of  brass 
guns  used  in  the  various  defences  to  have  been  thirty/two. 
There  are  four  detailed  accounts  of  the  taking  of  the  city: 
Morgan's  report,  the  account  of  Exquemelin,  the  ac/ 
count  of  one  William  Frogge  (one  of  Morgans  men), 
and  the  report  of  the  President  of  Panama.  A  comparison 


<  3 

C^  Q 

O  o 

w  6 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  ,  8i 

and  analysis  of  these  reports  leads  to  the  conviction  that 
in  the  main  the  account  of  Exquemelin  is  true,  although 
it  is  not  strange  if  both  his  account  and  the  report  of 
Morgan  somewhat  over^stated  the  strength  of  the  Span^ 
ish  forces. 

The  actual  taking  of  the  town  is  described  by  Ex/ 
quemelin  as  follows : 

"  Captain  Morgan  having  heard  this  Information,  [i.e., 
"the  fact  that  a  fort  with  brass  guns  protected  the  prin/ 
**  cipal  entrance]  gave  Orders  instantly  they  should  march 
**  another  way.  But  before  setting  forth,  he  made  a  Review 
**  of  all  his  Men,  whereof  he  found  both  killed  and  wounded 
**  a  considerable  number,  and  much  greater  than  had  been 
**  believed.  Of  the  Spaniards  were  found  600  dead  upon 
**the  place,  besides  the  wounded,  and  Prisoners.  The 
**  Pirats  were  nothing  discouraged,  seeing  their  number 
**  80  much  diminished,  but  rather  filled  with  greater  Pride 
"  than  before,  perceiving  what  huge  Advantage  they  had 
"obtained  against  their  Enemies.  Thus  having  rested 
"themselves  some  while,  they  prepared  to  march  cour/ 
"agiously  towards  the  City,  plighting  their  Oaths  to  one 
"another  in  general,  they  would  fight  till  never  a  Man 
"were  left  alive.  With  this  Courage  they  recommenced 
"  their  March,  either  to  conquer,  or  be  conquered,  carry/ 
"ing  with  them  all  the  Prisoners. 

"  They  found  much  difficulty  in  their  Approach  unto 
"  the  City.  For  within  the  Town  the  Spaniards  had  placed 


82        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

"many  great  Guns,  at  several  Quarters  thereof,  some  of 
"  which  were  charged  with  small  pieces  of  Iron,  and  oth/ 
**  ers  with  Musket/BuUets :  With  all  these  they  saluted  the 
**Pirats,  at  their  drawing  nigh  unto  the  place,  and  gave 
"them  full  and  frequent  Broad/sides,  firing  at  them  in^ 
"cessantly.  From  whence  it  came  to  pass,  that  unavoid/ 
"  ably  they  lost  at  every  step  they  advanced,  great  num/ 
"  hers  of  Men.  But  neither  these  manifest  Dangers  of  their 
**  Lives,  nor  the  sight  of  so  many  of  their  own,  as  dropped 
"down  continually  at  their  Sides,  could  deter  them  from 
"advancing  farther,  and  gaining  Ground  every  moment 
"  upon  the  Enemy.  Thus  although  the  Spaniards  never 
"ceased  to  fire,  and  act  the  best  they  could  for  their  De/ 
"fence,  yet  notwithstanding  they  were  forced  to  deliver 
"the  City  after  the  space  of  three  hours  Combat.  And 
"  the  Pirats  having  now  possessed  themselves  thereof,  both 
"killed  and  destroyed  as  many,  as  attempted  to  make  the 
'  *  least  Opposition  against  them.  The  Inhabitants  had  caused 
"the  best  of  their  Goods  to  be  transported  unto  more 
"  remote  and  occult  places.  Howbeit  they  found  within 
"the  City  as  yet,  several  Ware/houses,  very  well  stockt 
"  with  all  sorts  of  Merchandize,  as  well  Silks  and  Cloths, 
"as  Linnen,  and  other  things  of  considerable  value.  As 
"  soon  as  the  first  Fury  of  their  entrance  into  the  City  was 
"  over.  Captain  Morgan  assembled  all  his  Men  at  a  certain 
"place  which  he  assigned,  and  there  commanded  them 
"  under  very  great  penalties,  that  none  of  them  should 


,  SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  83 

"  dare  to  drink  or  taste  any  Wine.  The  Reason  he  gave  for 
"this  Injunction,  was,  because  he  had  received  private 
''Intelligence,  that  it  had  been  all  poysoned  by  the  Span/ 
"iards.  Howbeit  it  was  the  Opinion  of  many,  he  gave 
"these  prudent  Orders,  to  prevent  the  Debauchery  of  his 
"People,  which  he  foresaw  would  be  very  great  at  the 
"  beginning,  after  so  much  Hunger  sustained  by  the  way. 
"  Fearing  withal,  least  the  Spaniards  seeing  them  in  Wine, 
"  should  rally  their  Forces,  and  fall  upon  the  City,  and  use 
"  them  as  inhumanely  as  they  had  used  the  Inhabitants 
"before. 

"Captain  Morgan,  as  soon  as  he  had  placed  Guards 
"  at  several  Quarters,  where  he  thought  necessary,  both 
"  within  and  without  the  City  of  Panama,  immediately 
"commanded  25  Men  to  seize  a  great  Boat,  which  had 
"  stuck  in  the  Mud  of  the  Port,  for  want  of  Water  at  a  low 
"Tide,  so  that  she  could  not  put  out  to  Sea.  The  same 
"  day,  about  Noon,  he  caused  certain  Men  privately  to  set 
"  Fire  unto  several  great  Edifices  of  the  City,  no  body 
"knowing  from  whence  the  Fire  proceeded,  nor  who 
"  were  the  Authors  thereof,  much  less  what  Motives  per/ 
"  swaded  Captain  Morgan  thereunto,  which  are  as  yet 
"unknown  to  this  day.  The  Fire  increased  so  fast,  that 
"before  Night  the  greatest  part  of  the  City  was  in  a 
"  Flame.*  Captain  Morgan  endeavor'd  to  make  the  Pub/ 

*  Exquemelin  is  probably  in  error.  The  Spanish  records  state  that  the  Span- 
iards set  the  fires  apparently  by  direction  of  the  President  of  Panama  to  prevent 
Morgan  seizing  and  carrying  off  the  goods  in  warehouses,  and  to  otherwise  em- 
barrass him.  Froggc's  account  substantiates  this. 


84        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

**  lick  believe,  the  Spaniards  had  been  the  cause  thereof, 
"which  Suspicions  he  surmised  among  his  own  People, 
"perceiving  they  reflected  upon  him  for  that  Action. 
"Many  of  the  Spaniards,  as  also  some  of  the  Pirats,  used 
"all  the  means  possible,  either  to  extinguish  the  Flame, 
"  or  by  blowing  up  of  Houses  with  Gun^powder,  and  pull/ 
"  ing  down  others  to  stop  its  progress.  But  all  was  in  vain ; 
"  for  in  less  than  half  an  hour  it  consumed  a  whole  Street. 
"  All  the  Houses  of  this  City  were  built  with  Cedar,  be/ 
"  ing  of  very  curious  and  magnificent  Structure,  and  richly 
"adorned  within.  Especially  with  Hangings  and  Paint/ 
"  ings,  where  of  part  were  already  transported  out  of  the 
"Pirats  way,  and  another  great  part  were  consumed  by 
"  the  Voracity  of  the  Fire. 

"  There  belonged  unto  this  City  (which  is  also  the 
"  Head  of  a  Bishoprick)  eight  Monasteries,  whereof  seven 
"were  for  Men,  and  one  for  Women;  two  stately 
"  Churches,  and  one  Hospital.  The  Churches  and  Monas/ 
"teries  were  all  richly  adorned  with  Altar/pieces  and 
"Paintings,  huge  quantity  of  Gold  and  Silver,  with  other 
"  precious  things ;  all  which  the  Ecclesiasticks  had  hidden 
"and  concealed.  Besides  which  Ornaments,  here  were 
"  to  be  seen  2000  Houses,  of  magnificent  and  prodigious 
"  Building,  as  being  all,  or  the  greatest  part,  inhabited  by 
"Merchants  of  that  Countrey,  who  are  vastly  rich.  For 
"  the  rest  of  the  Inhabitants,  of  lesser  quality,  and  Trades/ 
"  men,  this  City  contained  5000  Houses  more.  Here  were 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  85 

•*aIso  great  number  of  Stables,  which  served  for  the 
**  Horses  and  Mules  that  carry  all  the  Plate,  belonging  as 
"  well  unto  the  King  of  Spain,  as  private  Men,  towards 
"  the  Coast  of  the  North/Sea.  The  neighboring  Fields  be/ 
**  longing  to  this  City,  are  all  cultivated  withfertil  Plantar 
**  tions  and  pleasant  Gardens,  which  afford  delicious  Pros/ 
"  pects  unto  the  Inhabitants  the  whole  year  long. 

**The  Genoeses  had  in  this  City  of  Panama  a  stately 
"and  magnificent  House,  belonging  to  their  Trade  and 
**  Commerce  of  Negro's.  This  Building  likewise  was  com/ 
•*manded  by  Captain  Morgan  to  be  set  on  Fire;  whereby 
"it  was  burnt  to  the  very  Ground.  Besides  which  pile  of 
"  Building,  there  were  consumed  to  the  number  of  200 
"  Ware/houses,  and  great  number  of  Slaves,  who  had  hid 
"themselves  therein,  together  with  an  infinite  multitude 
"of  Sacks  of  Meal.  The  Fire  of  all  which  Houses  and 
"  Buildings,  was  seen  to  continue  four  Weeks  after  the 
•*day  it  began. 

"  The  Pirats  i*  th'  mean  while,  at  least  the  greatest  part 
"of  them,  incamped  some  time  without  the  City,  fearing 
"and  expecting  that  the  Spaniards  would  come  and  fight 
"  them  anew.  For  it  was  known,  they  had  an  incompar/ 
"able  number  of  Men  more  than  the  Pirats  were.  This 
"occasioned  them  to  keep  the  Field,  thereby  to  preserve 
"  their  Forces  united,  which  now  were  very  much  dimin/ 
"  ished,  by  the  losses  of  the  precedent  Battels.  As  also  be/ 
"  cause  they  had  a  great  many  wounded,  all  which  they 


86        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

"  had  put  into  one  of  the  Churches  which  alone  remained 
**  standing,  the  rest  being  consumed  by  the  Fire.  More' 
'*  over,  beside  these  Decreases  of  their  Men,  Captain  Mor/ 
**gan  had  sent  a  Convoy  of  150  Men  unto  the  Castle  of 
"  Chagre,  to  carry  the  News  of  his  Victory  obtained 
"against  Panama. 

"They  saw  many  times  whole  Troops  of  Spaniards 
"cruize  to  and  fro  in  the  Campaign  Fields,  which  gave 
"them  occasion  to  suspect  their  rallying  anew.  Yet  they 
"never  had  the  courage  to  attempt  anything  against  the 
"Pirats.  Tth'  afternoon  of  this  fatal  day,  Captain  Morgan 
"re/entred  again  the  City  with  his  Troops,  to  the  in^ 
"tent  every  one  might  take  up  their  Lodgings,  which 
"now  they  could  hardly  find,  very  few  Houses  having 
"  escaped  the  Desolation  of  the  Fire.  Soon  after  they  fell 
"to  seeking  very  carefully  among  the  Ruines  and  Ashes, 
"for  Utensils  of  Plate,  or  Gold,  which  perad  venture  were 
"  not  quite  wasted  by  the  Flames.  And  of  such  things 
"  they  found  no  small  number  in  several  places.  Especially 
"  in  Wells  and  Cisterns,  where  the  Spaniards  had  hid  them 
"from  the  covetous  search  of  the  Pirats. 

"  The  next  day  Captain  Morgan  dispatcht  away  two 
"  Troops  of  Pirats,  of  150  Men  each,  being  all  very  stout 
"  Souldiers,  and  well  armed,  with  Orders  to  seek  for  the 
"Inhabitants  of  Panama,  who  were  escaped  from  the 
"hands  of  their  Enemies.  These  Men,  having  made  sev/ 
"eral  Excursions  up  and  down  the  Campaign  Fields, 


'  SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  87 

**  Woods  and  Mountains  adjoyning  to  Panama,  returned 
**  after  two  days  time,  bringing  with  them  above  200  Pris/ 
*'  oners,  between  Men,  Women,  and  Slaves.  The  same  day 
**  returned  also  the  Boat  above-mentioned,  which  Captain 
**  Morgan  had  sent  into  the  South^'Sea,  bringing  with  her 
**  three  other  Boats,  which  they  had  taken  in  a  little  while. 
**But  all  these  Prizes  they  could  willingly  have  given, 
**yea  although  they  had  imployed  greater  labor  into  the 
"bargain,  ft)r  one  certain  Galeon  which  miraculously 
**  escaped  their  Industry,  being  verj^  richly  laden  with  all 
**  the  King's  Plate,  and  great  quantity  of  Riches  of  Gold, 
**  Pearl,  Jewels,  and  other  most  precious  Goods,  of  all  the 
**  best  and  richest  Merchants  of  Panama.  On  board  of  this 
**  Galeon  were  also  the  religious  Women  belonging  to 
"the  Nunnery  of  the  said  City,  who  had  imbarked  with 
"  them,  all  the  Ornaments  of  their  Church,  consisting  in 
"great  quantity  of  Gold,  Plate,  and  other  things  of  great 
"value." 

Morgan  would  have  liked  to  send  boats  after  this  gal/ 
leon,  but  his  men  were  given  up  to  debaucheries  that 
they  "chose  rather  to  satiate  their  lust  and  appetite  .  .  . 
"than  to  lay  hold  on  the  occasion  of  such  an  huge  ad  van/ 
"tage."  Various  boats  were,  however,  captured,  which, 
although  of  less  value  than  the  galleon,  were  well  laden 
with  merchandise,  and  on  one  of  them  were  found  twenty 
thousand  pieces  of  eight.  Morgan  was  encouraged  to  re/ 
main  longer  than  he  had  intended  at  Panama  by  the  news 


88        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

that  the  detachment  which  he  had  left  at  Chagres  had 
made  several  valuable  captures  in  the  adjacent  waters,  in/ 
eluding  one  Spanish  ship  with  a  cargo  of  provisions. 

By  prolonging  his  stay  Morgan  was  able  to  search  the 
surrounding  country,  finding  many  hiding/places  and  de/ 
posits  of  valuables  until  he  had  gathered  a  great  quantity 
of  plunder.  The  cruelties  inflicted  on  the  harassed  Span/ 
iards  during  the  vigorous  search  that  was  made  are  viv/ 
idly  described  by  Exquemelin  and  denied  by  Morgan. 

The  following  extract  from  Exquemelin*s  account,  it 
is  to  be  hoped,  is  not  accurate  or  at  the  worst  is  excep/ 
tional: 

"  Captain  Morgan  used  to  send  forth  daily  parties  of 
*'  200  Men,  to  make  In/roads  into  all  the  Fields  and  Coun/ 
"trey  thereabouts,  and  when  one  party  came  back,  an/ 
"  other  consisting  of  200  more  was  ready  to  go  forth.  By 
"  this  means  they  gathered  in  a  short  time  huge  quantity 
*  *  of  Riches,  and  no  lesser  number  of  prisoners.  These  being 
''  brought  into  the  City,  were  presently  put  unto  the  most 
"exquisite  Tortures  imaginable,  to  make  them  confess 
"  both  other  peoples  Goods  and  their  own.  Here  it  hap/ 
"  pened,  that  one  poor  and  miserable  Wretch,  was  found 
"in  the  House  of  a  Gentleman  of  great  Quality,  who  had 
"put  on,  amidst  that  confusion  of  things,  a  pair  of  Taf/ 
"fety  Breeches,  belonging  to  his  Master,  with  a  little 
"silver  Key  hanging  at  the  Strings  thereof  This  being 
"perceived  by  the  Pirats,  they  immediately  asked  him, 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  89 

**  Where  was  the  Cabinet  of  the  said  Key?  His  Answer 
**  was,  He  knew  not  what  was  become  of  it,  but  only  that 
**  finding  those  Breeches  in  his  Master's  House,  he  had 
**  made  bold  to  wear  them.  Not  being  able  to  extort  any 
**  other  Confession  out  of  him,  they  first  put  him  upon 
*'  the  Rack,  wherewith  they  inhumanely  dis^joynted  his 
**  Arms.  After  this,  they  twisted  a  Cord  about  his  Fore/ 
**  head,  which  they  wrung  so  hard,  that  his  Eyes  appeared 
"as  big  as  Eggs,  and  were  ready  to  fall  out  of  his  Skull. 
"  But  neither  with  these  Torments,  could  they  obtain  any 
"positive  Answer  to  their  Demands.  Whereupon  they 
"soon  after  hung  him  up  by  the  Testicles,  giving  him 
"infinite  Blows  and  Stripes,  mean  while  he  was  under 
"  that  intolerable  pain  and  posture  of  Body.  Afterwards 
"  they  cut  off  his  Nose  and  Ears,  and  singed  his  Face  with 
"  burning  Straw,  till  he  could  speak  nor  lament  his  Misery 
"no  longer.  Then  loosing  all  Hopes  of  hearing  any  Con/ 
"  fession  from  his  Mouth,  they  commanded  a  Negro  to  run 
"  him  through  with  a  Lance,  which  put  an  end  to  his  Life, 
"  and  a  period  to  their  cruel  and  inhumane  Tortures.  After 
"this  execrable  manner,  did  many  others  of  those  miser/ 
"able  Prisoners  finish  their  days,  the  common  Sport  and 
"  Recreation  of  these  Pirats,  being  these,  and  other  Trag/ 
"edies  not  inferiour  to  these. 

"They  spared,  in  these  their  Cruelties,  no  Sex,  nor 
"  Condition  whatsoever.  For  as  to  religious  Persons  and 
"  Priests,  they  granted  them  less  Quarter  than  unto  others, 


90        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

**  unless  they  could  produce  a  considerable  Sum  of  Money, 
**  capable  of  being  a  sufficient  Ransom.  Women  them/ 

*  *  selves  were  no  better  used,  except  they  would  condescend 
"  unto  the  libidinous  Demands  and  Concupiscency  of  the 
**Pirats.  For  such  as  would  not  consent  unto  their  Lust, 

*  *  were  treated  with  all  the  Rigour  and  Cruelty  imaginable. 
**  Captain  Morgan,  their  Leader  and  Commander,  gave 
**  them  no  good  Example  in  this  point.  For  as  soon  as  any 
"  beautiful  Woman  was  brought  as  a  Prisoner  to  his  pres/ 
**ence,  he  used  all  the  means  he  could  possible,  both  of 
"  Rigor  and  Mildness,  to  bend  them  to  his  lascivious  will 
*' and  pleasure." 

After  remaining  at  Panama  the  space  of  three  weeks, 
Morgan  had  various  pack  animals  collected  on  which  were 
loaded  the  considerable  booty  which  had  been  gathered. 
Through  a  timely  warning  Morgan  at  this  time  prevented 
the  desertion  of  a  portion  of  his  men,  who  had  planned 
to  escape  with  a  goodly  part  of  the  riches  in  some  of  the 
captured  vessels  in  the  harbour.  Shortly  after  the  middle 
of  February,  1 6  7 1 ,  Morgan  left  the  ruined  city  with  nearly 
two  hundred  pack  animals  loaded  with  silver,  gold,  goods 
of  all  sorts,  and  food  for  the  trip,  together  with  a  large 
number  of  prisoners.  These  prisoners  he  threatened  to  take 
to  Jamaica  unless  ransomed  by  their  friends,  and  from  a 
stopping/place  on  the  road  to  where  he  had  left  his  boats 
and  canoes  he  did  a  profitable  trade  in  exchanging  prisoners 
for  substantial  payments.  On  the  march  back  to  Chagres 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  91 

an  effective  rear  guard  was  under  the  command  of  Colo/ 
nel  Blendry  Morgan,  a  kinsman  of  the  Admiral. 

After  the  arrival  at  Chagres,  division  of  the  spoils  was 
made,  not  without  a  great  amount  of  quarrelling  as  was  to 
be  expected,  and  early  in  March,  167 1,  after  demolishing 
the  fort,  Morgan  set  sail  for  Port  Royal.  Exquemelin 
accuses  him  of  having  sailed  secretly  with  only  three  or 
four  vessels,  and  states  that  by  the  end  of  August  not  more 
than  ten  of  the  original  thirty/six  vessels  had  made  their 
way  back  to  Jamaica. 

It  does  not  seem  probable  that  Exquemelin  was  in  a 
position  to  know  accurately  these  details,  and  it  is  prob/ 
able  that  the  absences  and  delays  of  the  ships  were  for  the 
most  part  voluntary  on  the  part  of  their  crews,  who  it  is 
to  be  assumed  preferred  the  free  range  of  the  Caribbean 
to  the  control  to  which  they  would  be  subjected  at 
Jamaica. 

The  Council  of  Jamaica  on  the  thirty/first  of  May, 
167 1,  gave  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Morgan  in  a  form  which 
expressed  approval  of  his  accomplishment.  More  than 
vague  rumours  of  discontent  with  his  division  of  the 
spoils  kept  coming  in,  however,  as  the  scattered  vessels 
of  his  fleet  came  into  port.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that 
Morgan  was  free  from  blame  in  this  respect.  It  seems 
more  probable  that  the  free/and/easy  habits  of  his  life  had 
made  him  not  too  scrupulous  in  a  division  which  so  inti/ 
mately  touched  his  own  interests. 


92        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

In  July,  1670,  at  Madrid  a  treaty  between  England  and 
Spain  had  been  concluded  for  **  restraining  depredations 
**  and  establishing  peace  "  in  the  New  World. 

Although  the  plea  of  Modyford,  that  the  commission 
to  Morgan  had  been  given  in  good  faith  to  avert  a  real 
danger  to  Jamaica,  was  probably  to  a  large  extent  true, 
and  undoubtedly  secretly  winked  at  by  the  officers  of  the 
Government,  yet  a  scapegoat  was  needed.  Modyford  was 
summoned  home  a  prisoner.  In  April,  167  2,  Morgan  was 
obliged  to  follow,  a  prisoner  in  the  **  Welcome  "  frigate. 
Admiral  Morgan  had,  however,  accomplished  too  much 
and  had  too  great  a  popularity  to  remain  long  in  disgrace. 
Influential  friends  cleared  him,  so  that  within  little  more 
than  a  year  he  was  appointed  Deputy/Governor  of  Jamaica 
(the  Earl  of  Carlisle  had  been  named  Governor),  but  he 
did  not  take  his  post  until  late  in  1674  after  Lord  Vaughan 
had  been  appointed  Governor  of  the  island  and  Morgan 
Lieutenant-Governor.  In  November  of  that  year,  Morgan 
was  knighted.  Morgan  arrived  in  Jamaica  before  Lord 
Vaughan  and  with  authority  of  the  Council  acted  as  Gov/ 
ernor  for  a  few  days  before  the  arrival  of  Vaughan. 

The  seventeenth  century  was  not  a  period  when  nations 
were  over/particular  as  to  methods,  and  it  is  to  be  remem/ 
bered  that  the  incessant  struggle  in  the  West  Indies  meant 
more  to  the  European  countries  involved  than  the  single 
question  of  booty  gained  and  private  fortunes  made.  Mor/ 
gan  almost  invariably  secured  his  objective.  His  name 


,  SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  93 

alone  was  a  terror  to  the  enemies  of  England.  Excesses 
were  certainly  committed  in  his  name ;  whether  by  him 
personally  or  not  is  less  certain.  There  is  much  contem/ 
porary  evidence  that  Morgan  was  not  so  black  as  he  was 
painted  by  his  detractors. 

In  1672,  the  Commander  of  the  forces  in  Jamaica, 
Major/General  Banister,  wrote  to  Lord  Arlington,  *'he 
**  [Morgan]  is  a  well  deserving  person,  and  one  of  great 
**  courage  and  conduct,  who  may,  with  his  Majesty's  pleas/ 
'*  ure,  perform  good  public  service  at  home  or  be  very  ad/ 
**  vantageous  to  this  island  if  war  should  again  break  forth 
**  with  the  Spaniards." 

To  what  extent  the  apology  printed  by  William  Crooke, 
publisher,  was  dictated  by  expediency  and  to  what  extent 
by  conviction  is  not  known,  but  it  is  an  interesting  docu/ 
ment  which  can  appropriately  be  submitted  as  evidence 
in  Morgan's  favour.  With  unimportant  omissions  it  is  as 
follows :  ♦ 

"The  History  of  the  Bucaniers  of  America,  having 
**been  written  in  the  Dutch  Language,  by  John  Esque/ 
"meling,  and  afterwards  translated  into  the  Spanish  by 
**  Alonso  de  Bonne  Maison,  Dr.  of  Physick,  was  lately  done 
«'out  of  Spanish  into  English,  and  thereupon  unadvisedly 
**  printed,  as  appearing  then  unto  me  to  be  only  a  general 
"history  of  Action  performed  by  several  Persons,  at  sev/ 

*  The  page  references  arc  to  Crooke' s  Second  edition  of  Exquemelin's  HiS' 
tory  of  the  Bucaniers. 


94        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

"eral  times,  and  likewise  in  several  Places.  How  so  it  is, 
'*that  amongst  divers  other  Actions  there  rehearsed,  are 
*'also  contained  the  unparallell/d  Exploits  of  that  Valiant 
**and  Heroick  Gentleman,  Sir  Henry  Morgan;  upon 
**  which  no  reflection  was  then  made.  But,  since  the  pub< 
**lication  of  the  said  History  (which  was  done  by  me  in 
**  a  trading  way,  and  with  no  other  design)  I  have  been 
''credibly  informed  by  certain  gentlemen,  who  belong 
"  unto  the  acquaintance  of  Sir  Henry,  that  several  things 

*  *  are  therein  delivered,  the  which  are  both  falsely  reported 
**by  John  Esquemeling,  and  wrongfully  represented,  and 
"consequently  are  much  redounding  to  the  Disreputation 
"and  Dishonour  of  that  Worthy  Person,  Sir  Hen.  Mor/ 
"gan ;  For  the  Wounds  of  whose  Reputation  by  that  Au/ 
**  thor,  I  have  been,  ever  since  my  better  information,  both 
"  heartily  sorrowful,  and  concerned  in  the  sincerity  of  my 
"mind;  and  in  testimony  thereof,  have  thought  it  con/ 
"venient,  by  these  times,  humbly  to  solicit,  and  desire 

*  *  the  pardon  of  that  noble  and  generous  Spirit,  for  as'much 
"as  by  me  hath  been  contributed  thereunto,  by  printing 
"the  English  Translation. 

"  The  Sincerity  of  the  whole  case  was  this:  That  the 
"  truth  of  the  particulars  contained  in  the  History  of  John 
"  Esquemeling,  were  not,  at  the  publishing  thereof,  nei/ 
"  ther  could  they  possibly  by  me  be  known,  as  being  to/ 
"tally  unacquainted  with  those  Affairs,  or  with  the  Per/ 
"son  or  Merits,  of  Sir  Henry  Morgan.  Yea  tho*  I  made 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  95 

"divers  Enquiries  thereunto,  I  could  not  be  so  happy 
"  as  to  learn,  whether  that  worthy  Person  were,  as  yet, 
"  among  the  living  or  not ;  as  I  conceive  I  may  be  able 
"to  convince,  both  by  sufficient  and  undubitable  wit/ 
"nesses.  Hereupon,  the  Book  was,  by  me,  taken  as  a 
"  general  History,  which  has  been  already  seen  in  several 
"Languages  abroad,  and,  for  as  much  as  a  great  part 
"  thereof  contained  the  Heroic  Actions  of  our  English 
"  Nation  it  was  accordingly  printed  by  a  strict  Transla/ 
"  tion  from  the  Spanish.  But,  whatever  points  in  the  said 
"  History,  either  do  misrepresent  the  heroic  Actions  of 
"  that  worthy  Gentleman,  or  do  in  anywise,  reflect  upon 
"his  Honour,  I  do  hereby  declare,  and  sincerely,  in  the 
"  presence  of  God  Almighty,  protest,  that  I  never  had  in 
"  mind,  the  least  intention  or  design,  either  of  reflecting, 
"or  aspersing  of  him,  or  any  other  Person  whatsoever, 
"named  in  that  History.  And,  as  aforesaid  I  am  both 
"  heartily  sorry,  and  not  a  little  perplexed  to  understand 
"  that  Sir  Henry  Morgan  should  receive  any,  the  least 
"  offense  at  that,  which  was  not  in  the  least  by  me  intended 
"in  the  said  English  Translation. 

"  The  integrity  of  my  Intention,  and  the  whole  truth 
"of  my  Proceedings,  being  thus  declared;  Yet,  notwith/ 
"  standing,  for  the  greater  satisfaction  of  the  Publick,  and 
"  to  evince  more  clearly  the  Sincerity  thereof,  I  do  hereby 
"again  and  again,  humbly  beg  the  Pardon  of  Sir  Henry, 
"  if  anything  I  have  done,  by  publishing  that  Book,  hath 


96        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

given  any  just  occasion  of  offense  unto  Him,  or  been 
the  least  cause  of  diminishing  the  Splendour  and  Worth 
of  his  Deserts.  Yea,  to  be  a  little  more  free  in  this  Ac/ 
knowledgement,  I  do  hereby  own  my  unadvisedness  in 
giving  to  a  Spanish  Translation.  (But  at  that  time  there 
was  no  License  appointed  for  the  review  of  Books)  in  a 
matter  that  so  nearly  concerned  that  Nation ;  and  where/ 
in  Justice  could  not  easily  be  done  unto  Sir  Henry,  in 
the  Relation,  without  reflecting  either  on  the  Courage 
or  Conduct  of  the  Spaniards  in  those  Parts :  For  which 
unadvisedness  of  my  own,  I  do,  once  more,  pray  his 
Pardon ;  and  shall  confess  it  an  Act  of  high  Generosity 
and  Goodness  in  him,  to  accept  of  this  my  Acknowledge/ 
ment,  instead  of  putting  me  into  the  trouble  of  a  ver/ 
diet  at  Common  Law ;  altho  nothing  was  ever  more  re/ 
mote  from  my  Thoughts,  as  the  designing,  or  intending 
him  the  said  Sir  Henry  Morgan,  the  least  Prejudice  or 
Scandal. 

"  From  hence,  to  do  all  the  Justice  and  Equity  that  I 
possibly  can,  unto  the  Merits  of  Sir  Henry,  according  to 
what  I  heretofore,  so  spontaneously  promised  in  the  Pref/ 
ace  unto  the  second  Volume  of  the  History  of  the 
Bucaniers  I  shall  now  proceed  to  correct  such  Passages 
of  the  History,  as,  according  to  the  Notice  I  have  re/ 
ceived  of  Faults.  The  which  Passages  for  the  better 
Credit  thereof,  I  do  Acknowledge  to  have  obtained  from 
some  worthy  Persons  his  Friends,  who  were  Witnesses, 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  97 

as  I  have,  unto  the  whole  Transactions  there  related,  and 
from  whom  I  got  this  Information,  and  how  to  Correct 
them  as  follows : 

"Page  32.  Here  the  Author,  John  Esquemeling, hath 
mistaken  the  Origin  of  Sir  Henry  Morgan,  for  he  was 
a  Gentleman's  Son  of  good  Quality,  in  the  County  of 
Monmouth,  and  was  never  a  Servant  unto  anybody  in 
his  life,  unless  unto  his  Majesty,  the  late  King  of  Eng/ 
land.  Neither  did  he  ever  sail,  but  by  Commission  of 
the  Governor  of  those  Parts. 

"  The  Cruelties  and  barbarous  Usages  of  the  Spaniards, 
when  at  his  Mercy,  or  his  Prisoners,  do  manifestly  Re/ 
fleet  on  the  Reputation  of  Sir  Henry  Morgan,  and  were 
wholly  an  error  in  the  Original  Author  of  this  History. 
As,  for  Instance,  in  Pages  44,  49,  61,  64,  65,  25,  30, 
31,  &c,  the  Cruelties  there  related,  after  the  taking  of 
Puerto  del  Principe,  and  the  blowing  up  the  Castle  at 
Puerto  Velo,  are  not  true.  For  the  castle  was  left  stand/ 
ing,  and  quarter  was  given  unto  all  that  yielded.  And, 
moreover  Sir  Henry  Morgan,  having  power,  by  his 
Commission,  both  of  Life  and  Limb,  over  all  his  fleet 
and  Army,  it  is  not  credible  that  he  would  suffer  either 
any  such  Cruelties  or  Debaucheries  to  be  done.  Neither 
(as  I  am  told)  was  there  any  such  Cruelty  committed, 
as  the  Wrecking  of  a  Fool  or  the  Torturing  of  a  Rich 
Portugezen,  or  the  causing  a  Negro  to  kill  several  Span/ 
ish  Prisoners  thereby  to  create  an  hatred  of  the  Span/ 


98        ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

"  iards  against  him  and  with  intent  to  prevent  his  return/ 
"ing  unto  them.  Or,  the  hanging  up  any  Persons  by  the 
"  Testicles.  No  more  Truth  was  there  in  that  Story,  that 
"many  Religious  were  pistolled;  for,  no  such  Persons 
"were  killed,  unless  they  were  found  in  Arms. 

"  In  Page  54,  the  Author  hath  also  mistaken  Admiral 
"  Morgan's  sailing  from  Puerto  Velo.  For,  instead  of  go^' 
"  ing  to  Cuba,  as  is  there  related,  the  Fleet  sailed  directly 
"to  Jamaica.  In  the  succeeding  Page  likewise,  the  Ship, 
"  there  said  to  come  from  New  England,  was  the  Oxford 
"Frigat.  And  the  French  Ship  there  mentioned  was  a 
"  French  Pirat,  who  had  lately  plundered  a  Vessel  from 
"  New  England,  and  upon  the  Complaint  made  unto  the 
"  Governour  of  Jamaica,  he  sent  the  Frigat  out  to  take 
"her,  which  was  accordingly  done ;  and  the  Frigat  after/ 
"  wards  joyned  with  the  Fleet  of  Admiral  Morgan,  by  the 
"  Command  and  Orders  of  his  Majesty's  said  then  Gov/ 
< '  ernour  of  Jamaica.  There  was,  likewise,  no  Advice  given 
"  to  Admiral  Morgan  about  Fireship  mentioned  Page  70 ; 
"  but  rather,  it  was  entirely  his  own  contrivance.  Also, 
"  the  style  of  the  Letter  of  the  Spanish  Admiral  unto  him, 
"is  wrong ;  for  he  styled  him.  Captain  Morgan,  Head  of 
**the  English  Fleet,  and  not  Commander  of  the  Pirate. 
"In  like  manner,  timely  orders  were  given  by  Sir  Henry 
"  Morgan  for  taking  the  Galeon  mentioned  in  page  29, 
"  but  were  neglected  by  such  as  received  the  Orders. 

"The   Expedition  performed  by  Admiral  Morgan 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  99 

"against  Panama,  was  not  undertaken  without  Commis/ 
"  sion  from  the  then  Governour  of  Jamaica.  And  it  was 
"upon  the  account  of  new  Acts  of  Hostility,  and  fresh 
"  Abuses  that  had  been  committed  by  the  Spaniards,  upon 
"the  King  of  England's  subjects  of  Jamaica;  as  by  the 
"  Council  Minute  may  sufficiently  appear,  to  any  that  de/ 
"  sire  fiill  satisfaction  herein ;  and  also  by  the  said  Com/ 
"mission,  which  they  may  see  here  inserted." 

The  records  of  the  complaint  of  Morgan  against 
Thomas  Malthus  (Court  of  King's  Bench,  James  II ,  1 685) , 
who,  as  previously  noted,  also  published  Exquemelin's 
"History  of  the  Bucaniers,"  are  additional  evidence  to 
the  thoroughness  with  which  Morgan  pursued  his  de^' 
tractors  and  may  be  taken  as  some  further  testimony  to 
the  fact  that  the  charges  against  him  were  at  best  exag/ 
gerated.  John  Greene,  Morgan's  attorney,  recites  in  the 
complaint "  That  the  Morgan  family  had  always  held  due 
"and  natural  allegiance  to  the  King,  were  both  by  sea 
"  and  land  of  good  fame,  and  that  against  all  evil  deeds, 
"piracies,  etc.,  had  the  greatest  abhorrence  and  disgust, 
"and  that  in  the  West  Indies  there  are  such  thieves  and 
"pirates,  called  *  buccaneers,*  who  subsist  by  piracy,  dep/ 
"  redation  and  evil  deeds  of  all  kinds  without  lawful  au/ 
"  thority,  that  of  these  people  Henry  Morgan  always  had 
"  and  still  has  hatred ;  but  notwithstanding  this,  Thomas 
"Malthus,  not  unacquainted  with  these  facts,  has  cun/ 
"ningly  contrived  to  injure  Henry  Morgan's  good  name 


loo    •  ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

«  and  fame  by  printing,  spreading  abroad  and  publishing 
"a  certain  false,  malicious,  scandalous  and  famous  libel 
«*  entitled  A  History  of  the  Bucaniers.'' 

The  specific  libels  were  enumerated  and  substantial 
damages  claimed.  A  jury  awarded  Morgan  two  hundred 
pounds  and  costs.  There  is  good  reason  to  assume  that  the 
smallness  of  the  judgment  rendered  in  Morgan's  favour 
was  due  to  adjustments  made  outside  of  the  Court,  not 
perhaps  in  cash,  but  in  a  way  to  reinstate  Morgan  in  the 
good  opinion  of  the  people.  The  second  edition  of  Ex^ 
quemeiin's  book  published  by  William  Crooke  contains 
an  addition  to  the  preface  disclaiming  in  considerable 
measure  the  responsibility  on  the  part  of  the  publisher  to 
the  words  of  the  author,  admitting  some  errors,  but  on 
the  whole  a  very  incomplete  apology  and  rather  a  defence 
of  himself  as  publisher,  with  some  extravagant,  if  slightly 
ironical,  expression  of  laudation  of  Sir  Henry  Morgan. 
That  this  was  followed  later  by  the  sweeping  and  detailed 
public  apology  which  has  been  quoted  here  was  appar/ 
ently  due  to  or  was  a  part  of  the  Malthus  settlement. 

In  the  *<  Correspondence  of  the  Family  of  Hatton, 
•*A.D.  1 601-1704,"  published  by  the  Camden  Society, 
1878,  is  an  interesting  letter  dated  twenty /ninth  of  May, 
1697,  written  by  Charles  Hatton  to  Lord  Hatton.*     . 

*  Mr.  Frank  Cundall,  of  the  Jamaica  Institute,  was  kind  enough  to  call  at- 
tention to  this  correspondence,  to  furnish  information  about  the  Polnitz  family, 
and  to  give  details  as  to  Morgan's  death. 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  loi 

"...  shall  now  give  you  y*  account  I  then  intended 
"about  Ringrose  his  relation  of  Sharps  voyage  into  y® 
"  South  Sea,  w<^^  is  called  y«  2^  part  of  y^  History  of 
"y«  Buccaneers.  About  y^yeare  1680  ther  came  out  a 
**  history  of  y*^  Buccaneers,  printed  in  Flanders,  in  Span-' 
**ish,  pretended  to  be  a  translation  from  Dutch  writ  by 
"one  Esquemeling,  a  Dutch  buccaneer,  w^^  Crooke 
*'a  bookseller  got  translated  into  English  and  printed, 
"in  w^^  S'  Henry  Morgan  was  represented  as  a  very 
"barbarous  pyrate.  S'"  Harry  brought  his  action  ag* 
"  Crooke,  proved  all  he  did  was  by  virtue  of  a  commis/ 
"  sion  of  y^  Governor  of  Jamaica  and  y^  Kings  authority, 
"and  recovered  300"  or  400" damage  from  Crooke,  about 
"y^  some  I  am  sure  Crook  himself  told  me.  After  w^^, 
"  his  History  of  y*  Buccaneers  wase  looked  upon  as  fab/ 
"  ulous  and  sold  for  noe  more  than  wast  paper.  But  S' 
"Harry  Morgan  being  return d  to  Jamaica,  and  Sharp 
"  and  his  comrades  their  voyage  into  y*  South  Sea  making 
"  a  great  noise,  and  Sharps  journal  being  printed  and  sell/ 
"  ing  very  well,  Crooke  agrees  w^^  Ringrose,  who  had 
"been  a  buccaneer  w^  Sharp,  for  a  relation  he  had  of 
"y^  exploits  done  in  y^  South  Sea  by  Sharp  and  other 
"pyrats;  and,  to  make  some  recompense  to  S""  Henry 
"Morgan,  he  was  mentioned  very  honorably  and  Ring/ 
"  rose  his  booke  stiled  y^  2^  part  of  y*  History  of  Bucca/ 
"neers,  and  is  generally  sold  w^^  y«  first,  they  being  both 
"printed  in  4to, 


102       ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN   • 

"The  first  part  of  y*  History  of  y^  Buccaneers  wase 
"  put  forth  in  French  w^^  some  variations  and  aditions, 
"pretended  to  have  been  write  in  Dutch  by  one  Oxeme/ 
"lin. 

"S^  John  Narborough's  Voyage  was  about  five  years 
"  agoe,  as  I  thinke,  printed  for  Smith  and  Watford,  in  an 
"  8°  volume,  together  w^^  Martins  voyage  to  Spitsbergen 
**  and  other  voyages,  w^^  have  sold  very  well,  as  also  an/ 
"other  booke  of  voyages  by  Ran  Wolfius  and  others. 

"  Dampier  is  sensible  of  many  mistakes  he  hath  made, 
"and  in  his  next  volume  he  will  correct  them;  w^^  he 
"very  honestly  wou'd  not  doe  in  y^  2^  ed.  of  his  first  vol/ 
"ume,  for  y^  wou'd  have  been  to  y^  prejudice  of  all  who 
"had  bought  his  first  volume." 

Whilst  much  that  Exquemelin  states  to  Morgan's  dis/ 
credit  is  undoubtedly  coloured  by  prejudice,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  Morgan  did  not  always  so  conduct  himself 
on  shore  as  to  completely  give  the  lie  to  his  critics.  Even 
the  dignity  of  his  titles,  Admiral,  Knight,  and  Lieuten/ 
ant/Governor,  were  not  enough  to  prevent  the  occasional 
out/cropping  of  his  swashbuckler  temperament.  A  reg/ 
ulated  life  on  shore  must  have  been  irksome  to  him.  In 
May,  1674,  the  Assembly  voted  six  hundred  pounds  spe/ 
cial  salary  to  him  to  be  paid  during  his  Lieutenant/Gov/ 
ernorship.  With  time  on  his  hands  and  money  in  his 
pocket,  Morgan,  according  to  the  reports  sent  home  by 
Governor  Vaughan,  frequented  the  taverns  of  Port  RoyaJ 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  103 

drinking  and  gambling  in  unseemly  fashion.  Later  in 
May,  1676,  Vaughan  accused  him  of  giving  aid  to  illegal 
privateers  and  of  otherwise  obstructing  the  efforts  of  the 
Governor  to  stop  this  form  of  illegal  sea  commerce.  Fi^ 
nally  Vaughan  made  definite  charges  against  both  Morgan 
and  Robert  Byndloss  (a  connection  of  Morgan  through 
his  wife) ,  both  of  whom  were  members  of  the  Council. 
Morgan  and  Byndloss  were  cited  to  appear  before  the 
Council  in  July,  1 676,  and  the  examination  of  the  charges 
took  place  before  the  Governor  and  eight  other  members. 
A  reading  of  the  Minutes  in  the  Council  Book  of  Jamaica 
covering  the  period  of  this  examination,  which  took  in 
effect  the  form  of  a  trial,  shows  that  Morgan  had  the  same 
active  and  resourceful  mind  in  defending  himself  with 
arguments,  not  always  convincing,  which  he  had  in  ac/ 
tual  warfare.  Morgan's  popularity  seems  to  have  been 
proof  against  attacks,  as  nothing  seems  to  have  come 
from  the  proceedings,  a  full  record  of  which  was  sent  to 
England. 

From  an  interesting  correspondence  at  the  Public  Rec/ 
ords  Office,  London,  and  in  the  Journal  of  the  Lords  of 
Trade  and  Plantations,  it  is  clear  that  efforts  were  made 
to  persuade  both  Morgan  and  Vaughan  to  patch  up  their 
quarrel. 

That  Morgan  did  not  wholly  lose  the  confidence  of 
those  in  England  charged  with  the  administration  of  the 
colony  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  under  date  of  thirteenth 


104      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

of  January,  1678,  in  the  Journal  of  the  Lords  of  Trade 
and  Plantations  a  commission  is  granted  to  Sir  Henry- 
Morgan,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Jamaica,  to  be  Captain 
of  a  company  of  one  hundred  men.  On.  the  same  date 
Lord  Carlisle  was  appointed  Governor  of  Jamaica  to 
succeed  Vaughan. 

For  nearly  four  months,  the  period  between  the  de/ 
parture  of  Vaughan  and  the  arrival  of  Carlisle,  Morgan 
again  acted  as  Governor  of  the  island.  During  Carlisle's 
brief  term  of  office  the  two  men  appear  to  have  had 
friendly  relations.  Carlisle  writes  home  in  a  somewhat 
kindly  way  of  Morgan s  ** generous  manner"  and  inti/ 
mates  that  whatever  allowances  are  made  to  him  **  he  will 
**be  a  beggar."  For  a  period  after  Carlisle  went  home  in 
May,  1680,  Morgan  once  again  acted  as  Governor,  and 
it  was  during  this  period  that  he  wrote  home  despatches 
which  must  have  been  strange  reading  to  those  who  knew 
well  his  earlier  career. 

On  the  fifth  of  July,  1680,  he  writes  to  Lord  Sunder/ 
land  telling  of  the  annoyance  along  the  coast  from  both 
French  privateers  and  those  which  belong  to  the  island 
itself.  He  urges  that  **  some  nimble  small  frigates  for  coast/ 
"ing  around  the  island  be  supplied,"  and  points  out  that 
nothing  can  be  more  fatal  to  the  prosperity  of  the  colony 
than  the  temptingly  alluring  boldness  and  success  of  the 
privateers  which  draw  off  white  servants  and  all  men  of 
unfortunate  or  desperate  condition.  Morgan  appears  to 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  105 

have  taken  particular  satisfaction  in  reporting  that  he  had 
captured  at  Bull  Bay  a  notorious  privateer. 

Among  other  reports  from  Morgan  to  the  Lords  of 
Trade  and  Plantations  is  one  bearing  on  a  certain  petition 
of  one  Francis  Mingham  which  has  interest  because  it 
contains  a  letter  from  Morgan  which  throws  some  light 
on  his  own  estimate  of  himself.  A  portion  of  the  letter 
follows : 

**I  left  school  too  young  to  be  a  great  proficient  in 
"  either  that  or  other  laws,  and  have  been  much  more 
"used  to  the  pike  than  the  book;  and  as  for  the  profit 
'*  there  is  no  porter  in  this  town  but  can  get  more  money 
**in  the  time  than  I  got  by  this  trial.  But  I  was  truly  put 
'*in  to  maintain  the  honor  of  the  court  for  his  Majesty's 
"service.  Without  this  the  act  of  navigation  cannot  be 
"enforced  for  it  is  hard  to  find  unbiased  juries  in  the 
"plantations  for  such  cases.  For  instance,  a  ship  from  Ire/ 
"  land  came  here  with  several  casks  of  Irish  soap,  and  was 
"seized  by  his  Majesty's  receiver.  The  case  was  tried  in 
"  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  the  jury  found  for  the 
"defendant  with  costs.  One  witness  swore  that  soap  was 
"vittles  and  that  one  might  live  upon  it  for  a  month, 
"  which  the  jury  readily  believed  and  found  the  aforesaid 
"verdict.  I  beg  your  Lordships  to  believe  that  if  I  have 
"erred  at  all  in  this  matter  it  has  been  of  judgment  only. 
"May  God  love  me  no  longer  than  I  love  justice." 

In  May,  168 1,  Sir  Thomas  Lynch  was  appointed  Gov/ 


io6       ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

ernor,  and  shortly  afterwards  Morgan's  commission  as 
Lieutenant/Governor  was  rescinded.  The  appointment 
of  Lynch,  on  account  of  previous  relations  of  the  two 
men,  was  a  direct  blow  at  Morgan  and  things  did  not  go 
well  between  them.  Morgan  technically  retained  his  seat 
on  the  Council,  but  appears  to  have  behaved  very  intem/ 
perately.  It  is  evident  Morgan  wanted  to  force  out  Lynch 
and  to  succeed  to  the  post.  Lynch  seems  to  have  been 
equally  determined  to  humiliate  Morgan,  whose  temper 
was  not  of  the  best.  The  Minutes  of  the  Council  even  re/ 
cord  such  a  frivolous  charge  as  that  Morgan  had  been 
overheard  to  say,  **God  damn  the  Assembly."  Finally 
Morgan  was  dismissed  from  the  Council. 

For  some  time  Morgan  appears  to  have  had  his  hands 
full  in  defending  his  reputation,  as  it  was  during  the  try/ 
ing  years  which  now  came  to  him  that  Exquemelin's 
book  was  published  in  England  and  the  libel  suit,  already 
recorded,  was  prosecuted.  Morgan  appears,  however,  to 
have  been  determined  to  remain  in  Jamaica  and  re/estab/ 
lish  his  reputation  and  position  there.  In  December,  1687, 
the  whole  Council  recommended  the  re/admission  of  Sir 
Henry  Morgan  to  membership,  a  request  the  granting  of 
which  was  urged  upon  the  King  by  the  Duke  of  Albe/ 
marie.  On  the  twenty/seventh  of  April,  1688,  the  King 
in  Council  ordered  the  suspension  removed  and  Morgan 
was  reinstated.  Morgan  did  not,  however,  live  long  to  en/ 
joy  his  restored  honours.  On  the  twenty/fifth  of  August, 


SIR  HENRY  MORGAN  107 

1688,  he  died.  The  ceremonies  which  marked  his  death 
were  befitting  the  great  seaman  that  he  was.  The  follow/ 
ing  is  an  extract  from  the  Journal  of  Captain  Lawrence 
Wright,  Commander  of  His  Majesty  *s  ship,  *  *  Assistance  "  : 

"August  1688. 

** Saturday  25  "This  day  about  eleven  hours  noone 
"Sir  Henry  Morgan  died,  &  the  26th  was  brought  over 
"from  Passage/fort  to  the  King's  house  at  Port/Royall, 
"  fi-om  thence  to  the  Church,  &  after  a  sermon  was  carried 
"to  the  Pallisadoes  &  there  buried.  All  the  forts  fired 
"an  equal  number  of  guns,  wee  fired  two  &  twenty  & 
"after  wee  &  the  Drake  had  fired,  all  the  merchant  men 
"fired." 

Jamaica  was  Morgan's  chosen  home  and  there  he  was 
buried  and  there  his  will  was  filed  in  the  Record  Office  at 
Spanish  Town.  It  makes  intelligent  and  appropriate  pro/ 
vision  for  his  wife  and  near  relatives. 

Morgan  was  not  an  ordinary  man.  He  was  a  brave  and 
skilfiil  leader,  quick  in  thought  and  in  action.  He  was 
impulsive,  generous,  perhaps  not  over/scrupulous,  and  as 
was  natural  was  impatient  of  restraint.  The  charges  of 
cruelty  cannot  be  considered  as  fully  proven  by  Exque/ 
melin's  statements,  but  it  can  be  assumed  that  his  wild 
crew  committed  many  excesses.  A  pirate  he  certainly  was 
not.  Always  a  loyal  servant  to  his  King  and  country,  his 
own  ambitions  never  were  at  variance  with  what  he  con/ 
sidered  to  be  for  England*s  good.  If  he  was  on  occasion  a 


io8      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

roisterer,  he  was  certainly  a  generous  and  open/handed 
one ;  a  man  who  compelled  popularity  and  encouraged 
enmities.  The  effect  of  his  greatness  on  the  events  of  his 
time  was  superior  to  the  harm  done  by  his  defects. 


CHAPTER  IV 

ADMIRALS  DE  POINTIS  AND  DU  CASSE 

BRITISH  seamen  were  not  the  only  ones  to  disturb 
the  tranquillity  of  the  Spanish  possessions.  Nei/ 
ther  the  death  of  Morgan  nor  the  ban  placed  upon  buc/ 
caneering  by  the  English  King  gave  security  to  the  ports 
of  the  Spanish  Main.  In  order  to  understand  the  full  sig/ 
nificance  of  the  attack  upon  Cartagena  by  the  French  in 
1697,  it  is  necessary  to  review  the  condition  of  Europe 
at  the  time. 

In  October,  1685,  Louis  XIV  deprived  the  Huguenots 
of  the  privileges  conferred  upon  them  by  the  Edict  of 
Nantes.  Churches  were  destroyed,  ministers  exiled,  and 
the  reformed  worship  forbidden.  Although  these  meas/ 
ures  did  not,  as  it  later  appeared,  commend  themselves 
to  Pope  Innocent  XI,  they  received  the  approbation  of 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  Catholic  world.  The  Protest 
tant  nations  made  no  effort,  however,  to  disguise  their 
alienation  from  France,  and,  forgetting  for  the  time  their 
own  minor  differences,  concluded  in  July,  1686,  a  de^ 
fensive  alliance  at  Augsburg.  Grievances  other  than  those 
based  on  religious  prejudices  were  exploited  and  this 
league  included  Austria,  Spain,  Holland,  Sweden,  Sax/ 
ony,  Bavaria,  and  most  of  the  German  and  Italian  States. 
By  this  Alliance  of  Augsburg,  and  by  the  fall  of  the 


no      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

Catholic  government  of  James  II  in  England  in  1688,  all 
Europe  was  combined  against  Louis  XIV. 

War  was  declared  by  France  on  England,  Holland, 
Austria,  and  Spain.  With  marvellous  energy  Louis  un/ 
dertook  the  task  of  defending  himself.  He  was  attacked 
on  the  south  by  Spain ;  on  the  northeast  by  the  combined 
forces  of  Holland,  Germany,  and  the  Spanish  Nether/ 
lands;  on  the  southeast  by  the  Italians,  and  his  coast 
towns  were  constantly  threatened  by  the  English  and 
Dutch.  Even  the  extraordinary  resources  of  France  could 
not  long  sustain  this  unequal  conflict,  and  in  May,  1697, 
negotiations  looking  toward  peace  were  opened  at  Rys/ 
wick.  The  Peace  Conferences  were  long,  tedious,  and  dif-' 
ficult,  the  numerous  contracting  parties  and  their  mutual 
differences  making  a  satisfactory  conclusion  of  the  con/ 
ference  well-nigh  impossible.  Spain  was  not  desirous  to 
end  the  war,  and  it  was  not  until  the  news  that  Barcelona 
had  surrendered  to  the  French  under  the  Duke  of  Ven^ 
dome,  and  that  Cartagena,  the  stronghold  of  Spain  in  the 
New  World,  had  been  taken  by  de  Pointis,  that  Spain 
made  the  necessary  concessions  which  insured  peace.  On 
the  twentieth  of  September,  1697,  the  Treaty  of  Rys/ 
wick  was  signed  by  France,  Spain,  England,  and  Holland, 
and  on  the  thirtieth  of  October  Austria  made  a  separate 
treaty  of  peace  with  France. 

The  expedition  against  Cartagena  was  the  only  effec/ 
tive  offensive  use  to  which  French  vessels  were  put  dur/ 


ADMIRALS  DE  POINTIS  AND  DU  CASSE   in 

ing  this  war,  and  that  the  blow  against  Spain  was  struck, 
and  this  so  effectively,  at  such  a  distance  from  the  actual 
field  of  expected  hostilities,  is  an  instructive  example  of 
the  influence  of  sea^power. 

This  naval  expedition  was  in  itself  interesting,  and,  in 
view  of  its  size  and  effect,  unique ;  inasmuch  as  it  was 
actually  a  privateering  undertaking.  Early  in  the  progress 
of  the  war  a  commodore  in  the  French  Navy,  Baron  de 
Pointis,*  had  suggested  the  sending  out  of  a  squadron 
under  royal  license,  but  privately  equipped,  for  the  pur/ 
pose  of  striking  a  blow  at  Spanish  power  in  America  and 
at  the  same  time  gaining  rich  booty  for  those  promoting 
and  engaged  in  the  enterprise.  Finally,  the  exigencies  of 
the  war  brought  about  the  laying  up  of  the  Toulon  fleet 
at  Brest,  and  de  Pointis,  through  Pontchartrain,  then 
Minister  of  Marine,  obtained  the  King's  approbation  of  a 
plan  by  which  the  King  was  to  lend  to  de  Pointis  ships, 
men,  and  ammunition,  in  return  for  a  share  of  the  ex/ 
pected  profits.  The  funds  to  cover  the  expenses  of  the 
expedition,  it  was  agreed,  should  be  provided  by  the  pub/ 
lie  sale  of  shares.  The  public  took  kindly  to  the  plan,  and 
subscriptions  poured  in  until  interrupted  by  rumours 
of  an  expected  peace,  which  caused  anxiety  as  to  the 
chances  of  profitable  returns.  In  view  of  peace  having 
been  made  with  Savoy,  de  Pointis  himself  appears  to  have 
had  some  doubts  as  to  whether  a  premature  ending  of  the 

♦  Jean  Bernard  Louis  Desjcan,  Baron  de  Pointis,  bom  1645,  '^icd  1707, 


112      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

war  would  not  prevent  the  carrying  out  of  his  plans,  and 
entered  into  an  understanding  with  His  Majesty  that  re/ 
imbursement  would  be  made  if  peace  should  be  con/ 
eluded  before  the  sailing  of  the  squadron.  Even  this, 
however,  did  not  revive  enthusiasm  in  the  undertaking, 
and  de  Pointis  had  to  content  himself  with  a  lesser  num/ 
ber  of  ships  than  he  had  intended,  in  order  to  make  the 
funds  at  his  disposal  meet  the  cost  of  the  preparations. 

In  October,  1696,  de  Pointis  began  to  fit  out  his  fleet 
at  Brest,  and  on  the  seventh  of  January,  1697,  at  day/ 
light,  with  his  squadron  he  left  that  port,  successfully 
eluding  the  English  and  Dutch  blockading  fleet.  A  short 
stop  was  made  at  Bertheaume  to  take  on  additional  pro/ 
visions  from  certain  vessels  which  had  not  arrived  at  Brest 
in  season  and  which  de  Pointis  had  ordered  to  this  ren/ 
dezvous;  the  squadron  then  proceeded  toward  Santo 
Domingo  in  the  West  Indies. 

Santo  Domingo,  as  the  French  settlements  in  His/ 
paniola  were  called,  was  the  headquarters  of  the  French 
buccaneers  and  filibusters,  who  at  this  period,  with  full 
official  connivance,  were  preying  upon  the  Spanish  and 
English  possessions  and  vessels.  Part  of  the  arrangement 
between  de  Pointis  and  the  French  Minister  of  Marine 
had  been  that  the  expedition  should  have  the  active  sup/ 
port  and  co/operation  of  the  Governor  of  Santo  Domingo, 
and  long  before  the  squadron  had  sailed  from  Brest,  in/ 
structions  had  been  sent  out  to  the  Governor,  M.  du 


ADMIRALS  DE  POINTIS  AND  DU  CASSE    113 

Casse,  to  raise  twelve  hundred  men  to  assist  in  the  ex/ 
pedition.  The  regular  force  under  M.  du  Casse  was  small, 
and  to  furnish  the  number  demanded  meant  necessarily 
to  enlist  the  services  of  the  buccaneers.  He  finally  assem/ 
bled  and  with  difficulty  held  together  until  the  somewhat 
tardy  arrival  of  de  Pointis,  a  force  made  up  of  nearly  seven 
hundred  buccaneers,  one  hundred  and  seventy  soldiers 
from  the  garrison,  and  enough  colonists  and  negroes  to 
bring  the  total  number  up  to  about  one  thousand  men. 
For  their  proper  conveyance  he  had  provided  seven  ves/ 
sels  of  good  size  and  a  few  smaller  craft. 

For  convenience  in  this  narrative  the  term  "bucca/ 
**  neers"  will  be  often  used  to  include  this  whole  contin/ 
gent  from  Santo  Domingo. 

Owing  to  the  co/operation  given  by  M.  du  Casse  in 
this  expedition,  in  which  he  figured  as  a  leader  of  the 
buccaneers,  he  has  often  been  referred  to  in  popular  nar/ 
ratives  as  a  buccaneer  himself.  Jean  Baptiste  du  Casse  was 
an  able  French  naval  commander,  born  at  Bern  in  1 640. 
He  was  appointed  Governor  of  Santo  Domingo  in  1691. 
Shortly  after  his  participation  in  the  capture  of  Cartagena, 
he  returned  to  France  and  took  part  in  the  battle  with  the 
English  fleet  commanded  by  Admiral  Benbow  in  1702. 
During  the  War  of  Succession  he  commanded  the  French 
naval  forces  at  the  attack  on  Barcelona  in  17 14. 

Early  in  March,  after  a  voyage  of  fifty/five  days,  de 
Pointis  arrived  with  his  squadron  at  Cape  Francis,  Santo 


114      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

Domingo,  and  there  learned  with  some  vexation  that 
three  French  ships,  to  whose  commanders  he  brought 
orders  to  attach  themselves  to  his  squadron,  had  sailed 
eight  days  before  for  France. 

Although  a  brave  and  skilful  officer,  de  Pointis  ap/ 
peared  to  lack  the  quality  of  sharing  either  the  credit  of 
successes  or  the  responsibilities  of  command  with  others, 
and  it  appears  to  have  been  due  to  the  disinterested  loy^ 
alty  of  du  Casse  that  the  quarrels  between  the  two  com/ 
manders  did  not  render  the  co/operation  of  the  bucca/ 
neers  impossible,  and  otherwise  damage  the  expedition. 
The  irritation  incident  to  the  continued  lessening  of  his 
forces  below  the  number  fixed  by  de  Pointis  in  his  orig< 
inal  plans  was  not  an  unlikely  cause  of  much  of  the  trou/ 
ble,  but  whatever  the  cause,  it  is  clear  that  he  treated 
du  Casse  with  less  than  the  respect  to  which  his  position 
and  abilities  entitled  him.  M.  du  Casse,  however,  be/ 
haved  with  great  moderation,  and  believing  that  by  his 
own  presence  only  could  the  troops  which  he  had  gotten 
together  be  kept  within  bounds,  he  volunteered  to  go 
with  the  expedition.  This  offer  de  Pointis  accepted,  but 
stipulated  that  du  Casse  should  go  with  the  simple  rank 
of  Captain,  which  he  actually  held  in  the  French  navy. 

Before  the  squadron  sailed,  and  in  fact  before  the  buc/ 
caneers  would  agree  to  join  under  de  Pointis,  it  was  nec/ 
essary  to  arrive  at  a  formal  agreement  as  to  the  sharing  of 
booty.  It  was  mutually  agreed  **that  the  buccaneers  and 


ADMIRALS  DE  POINTIS  AND  DU  CASSE    115 

**  colonists  should,  man  for  man,  have  the  same  shares  of 
**  booty  that  were  allowed  to  the  men  on  the  King's 
**  ships."  This  same  arrangement  was  made  with  the  ship's 
companies  of  several  other  vessels  which  joined  the 
squadron. 

After  taking  on  provisions  and  aiding  in  equipping  the 
vessels  of  the  buccaneers,  de  Pointis  ordered  his  ships  to 
sail  on  the  nineteenth  of  March,  with  directions  to  ren/ 
dezvous  off  Cape  Tiberon  on  the  western  extremity  of 
Hispaniola.  Owing  to  violent  north  winds  this  was  made 
somewhat  difficult,  and  it  was  not  until  the  twenty/eighth 
of  March  that  the  squadron  came  together.  At  this  place 
definite  plans  for  the  attack  to  be  made  upon  Cartagena 
were  adopted.  Du  Casse  advised  attacking  Puerto  Bello  in/ 
stead,  because  of  his  belief  that  certain  richly  laden  ships 
were  almost  certainly  there  at  the  time,  and  because  of 
the  lesser  strength  of  the  fortresses  at  Puerto  Bello.  De 
Pointis,  however,  who  had  made  up  his  mind  in  any 
event  to  ultimately  attack  Cartagena,  and  therefore  feared 
to  waste  his  provisions  and  incur  other  risks  by  a  digres/ 
sion  to  Puerto  Bello,  persisted  in  his  original  plan,  and  the 
squadron  sailed  for  Cartagena  at  once. 

The  vessels  and  men  under  de  Pointis  were  as  follows : 

*  *  Scepter,"  eighty /four  guns,  six  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
Captain  Guillotin  (flag/ship). 

«*  St.  Levds,"  sixty /four  guns,  four  hundred  and  twenty 
men,  Vice/Admiral  Levy. 


ii6;    ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

"  Fort,"  seventy  guns,  four  hundred  and  fifty  men,  Rear/ 
Adniiral  Viscount  Coetlogon. 

*<Vermandois,"  sixty  guns,  three  hundred  and  fifty 
men,  commanded  by  Dubuison  Gombaud. 

"Apollo  Furieux,"  sixty  guns,  three  hundred  and  fifty 
men,  commanded  by  La  Motte  Michel. 

**  St.  Michael,"  sixty  guns,  three  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
commanded  by  le  Chev.  de  Marolles. 

"Christ,"  forty/four  guns,  two  hundred  and  twenty 
men,  commanded  by  le  Chev.  de  la  Motte  d'Heran. 

"Avenant,"  thirty  guns,  two  hundred  men,  com/ 
manded  by  le  Chev.  Francine. 

"Marin,"  twenty^eight  guns,  one  hundred  and  eighty 
men,  commanded  by  St.  Vandrille. 

"  Eclatant,"  bomb  vessel,  sixty  men,  commanded  by  De 
Mons. 

"Providence,"  four  guns,  thirty  men,  commanded  by 
le  Chev.  de  L'Escovet. 

"  Pontchartrain,"  forty  guns,  one  hundred  men. 

(frigate),    twenty /four   guns,  sixty  men  —  to/ 

gether  with  six  mortar  boats  and  other  craft. 

On  board  of  these  vessels  were  one  hundred  and  ten 
officers,  fifty/five  marines,  twenty/one  hundred  seamen 
and  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty  soldiers,  or  a  total  of  four 
thousand  and  fifteen  men. 

In  addition  to  these  ships  and  men  there  were  the  seven 
vessels  classed  by  de  Pointis  as  frigates,  of  from  eight  to 


ADMIRALS  DE  POINTIS  AND  DU  CASSE    117 

twenty/four  guns  each,  and  carrying  the  approximately- 
one  thousand  men  furnished  by  du  Casse.  The  total  coni/ 
bined  forces  of  the  expedition  were  about  five  thousand, 
and  the  number  of  vessels  twenty,  exclusive  of  six  to  ten 
very  small  craft. 

Before  sailing  from  Cape  Tiberon,  de  Pointis  issued 
the  orders  necessary  for  the  division  of  command  both  at 
sea  and  on  shore,  and  arranged  the  relative  authority  and 
seniority,  a  somewhat  troublesome  matter,  which  his  va^ 
rious  vessel  commanders  were  to  have  when  in  command 
as  land  officers.  Du  Casse  was  definitely  given  command 
of  the  buccaneers,  who  were  made  into  one  troop,  the 
ships*  crews  being  made  up  into  companies,  and  divided 
into  battalions. 

Before  leaving  France,  de  Pointis  had  received  from 
Paris  plans  and  directions  regarding  the  port  and  fortresses 
of  Cartagena,  and  detailed  instructions  as  to  the  best  method 
of  attack.  In  many  ways  the  information  given  was  after/ 
wards  proved  inaccurate  and  at  the  time  conflicted  with 
that  furnished  by  du  Casse.  The  plans  of  de  Pointis  were, 
nevertheless,  greatly  helped  by  the  information  which  he 
received  in  advance,  and  he  appears  to  have  been  fuUy 
alive  to  the  importance  of  first  securing  certain  strategic 
points  of  great  advantage  to  either  those  defending  or  at/ 
tacking  the  place.  In  particular  it  had  been  pointed  out 
to  him  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  him  to  obtain  early 
the  command  of  the  only  road  to  the  interior  from  Car/ 


ii8      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

tagena,  in  order  to  prevent  the  removal  of  treasure  from 
Cartagena  during  the  progress  of  his  attack  upon  the  city 
itself.  He  had  therefore  resolved  to  land  the  troop  of  buc/ 
caneers  the  very  night  of  his  arrival  off  Cartagena,  with 
the  purpose  of  having  them  secure  possession  of  La  Popa, 
the  high  hill  behind  the  town,  overlooking  the  town  iu 
self  and  the  road  leading  from  it.  With  this  plan  in  mind 
he  anchored  his  fleet  about  twelve  miles  to  the  eastward 
on  the  thirteenth  of  April.  The  selection  of  the  bucca/ 
neers  for  this  dangerous  and  arduous  task  created  some 
feeling  between  them  and  de  Pointis,  who  accused  them, 
rather  unjustly,  of  a  lack  of  bravery.  Du  Casse  agreed  to 
lead  them,  and  preparations  were  made  for  their  landing ; 
but  the  heavy  surf,  not  unusual  at  that  time  of  year,  made 
even  an  attempt  impracticable,  and  de  Pointis  himself  was 
nearly  drowned  while  searching  for  a  proper  landing/ 
place.  He  reluctantly  decided  that  the  city  could  be  ap/ 
proached  with  safety  from  the  harbour  side  only,  and  sailed 
the  morning  of  the  fourteenth  toward  the  entrance  to  the 
harbour,  called  Boca  Chica.  His  ships  were  fired  upon 
from  the  city  walls  as  they  passed  by,  showing  the  pres/ 
ence  there  of  many  heavy  guns.  This  firing  did  slight 
damage  to  the  rigging  of  a  few  of  the  vessels  and  killed 
three  men ;  it  was  not  returned  by  the  guns  of  the  ships, 
as  de  Pointis  did  not  feel  sufficiently  assured  as  to  the 
depth  of  the  water  to  order  any  of  his  ships  near  enough 
inshore  to  effectively  return  the  fire. 


ADMIRALS  DE  POINTIS  AND  DU  CASSE   119 

In  the  obscurity  of  the  night  of  the  fifteenth,  recon/ 
noissance  was  made  to  select  a  landing  on  Tierra  Bomba, 
near  the  Boca  Chica  Fort,  and  on  the  sixteenth,  under 
cover  of  firing  fi-om  the  ships,  which  held  the  enemy's 
attention  elsewhere,  about  one  thousand  troops  were 
landed.  During  this  operation  a  small  boat,  of  a  size  to 
carry  about  sixty  men,  was  captured,  and  fi-om  one  of  the 
prisoners  taken  de  Pointis  learned  that  the  galleons  for 
the  capture  of  which  du  Casse  had  urged  him  to  go  to 
Puerto  Bello,  were  still  at  that  port.  Among  the  prisoners 
were  two  Franciscan  friars,  one  of  whom  was  despatched 
to  the  commandant  of  Boca  Chica  Fort  to  demand  its  sur/ 
render,  which  was  refused.  During  the  day  a  re/enforce/ 
ment  of  three  hundred  men  was  sent  from  the  city  to  the 
fort,  and  an  attack  upon  them  by  the  buccaneers  from 
the  shore  brought  on  a  brief  general  engagement,  result/ 
ing  in  the  surrender  of  the  fort  by  its  aged  Comman/ 
dant  D.  Sancho  Jimeno,  to  whom  was  given  the  courteous 
and  generous  treatment  to  which  he  was  entitled  by  the 
gallantry  of  his  defence.  The  loss  of  the  French  and  buc/ 
caneers  in  this  engagement  is  reported  by  de  Pointis  to 
have  been  fifty,  and  that  of  the  Spanish  as  ninety.  The 
Spanish  accounts,  however,  state  that  the  whole  garrison 
amounted  to  seventy  only. 

The  fort  was  immediately  occupied  and  garrisoned  by 
the  French  troops,  while  six  hundred  and  fifty  of  the 
buccaneers  were  immediately  (on  the  seventeenth)  sent 


120     ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

across  the  outer  harbour,  or  Bay  of  Cartagena,  with  orders 
to  land  and  seize  La  Popa  if  possible.  Du  Casse  was  un^ 
able,  on  account  of  a  wound  received,  to  accompany  the 
buccaneers,  who  went  under  command  of  Captain  Dau/ 
nou.  La  Popa  was  discovered  by  the  buccaneers,  after 
some  resistance  on  the  road,  to  have  been  abandoned  by 
the  Spanish. 

While  this  expedition  was  in  progress  the  ships  entered 
the  bay,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  eighteenth  began  the 
bombardment  of  Fort  Santa  Cruz  at  one  side  of  the  en/ 
trance  to  the  inner  harbour.  This  passage  had  on  the  pre/ 
vious  day  been  practically  closed  by  the  Spanish  through 
the  sinking  of  three  or  four  vessels.  During  this  bombard/ 
ment  the  troops  which  had  been  landed  at  Boca  Chica 
(and  which  now  numbered  about  two  thousand)  had, 
under  the  personal  leadership  of  de  Pointis,  been  march/ 
ing  overland  *  toward  the  town.  Upon  their  approach  to 
Fort  Santa  Cruz,  the  garrison,  fearing  to  be  cut  off,  de/ 
serted  the  fort  and  fled  into  Cartagena.  Finding  an  as/ 
sault  upon  the  defences  of  the  town  on  the  side  toward 
the  sea  impracticable,  de  Pointis  had  the  troops  which 
had  arrived  from  Boca  Chica  transported  across  the  bay 
early  on  the  nineteenth,  and  with  these  troops  he  joined 
the  buccaneers  near  San  Lazaro.  After  a  thorough  re/ 

*  Boca  Grande,  at  one  time  a  broad  entrance  into  the  bay  from  the  sea  be- 
tween the  island  of  Tierra  Bomba  and  the  neck  of  land  extending  from  the 
mainland  to  the  westward,  appears  at  this  time  to  have  been  actually  closed 
for  its  full  breadth  and  to  have  offered  a  road  for  the  passage  of  the  troops. 


.>"-*>!*?     *    -'-•^x-   ^zif 


.;-^f^> 


Ihichi 


Mnlt^i 


»  1  u  I 


>  0  (I.  ^ ^  ^•t 


lV\<\-^o  tie  la  Cruy 


-r 


vii/  iiullo 


hops  J  msiiUt' tit  vo  <.oto        -^  "         ,      \  /       )       .         '       „^;^         .^  \— 


N-* — '■■Jitwig'MrT — »*f  s 


Eclielle  d'4U>e  laeiie  Marine 


DE   POINTIS    MAP  OF  THE  T! 


CAllTH  A  GENE 


A    ^ 


PRISE 
DE   CARTHAGENE 

DES  JNDES 
P.\R  LESCADRE  F«.\IS(;'AISE 
^UX  ORDRES  DK  POINTIS 
en  i6c)7. 


LEGENDS 
Poiu'les  operations  du  Sieo^e 

\ ' 

A.  Po,(i/ioti  i/t'  iKfcoJ/elrafii^aiifi'  /f/4,.A)/il^ 

ftour  /'aHit^uf  JuForf  Jioiuuuhiifneptn- terre^, 
C.  Dt'tiu-  FaiJ-.fciuttV  canonnunt  /e  nieme  Fort 

poiu'^/i'worio'cr  le  dt'hiTrifuemt'ntihv  friuifie^ . 
I).  Ouhoh'  a  fitwific  iirant  ci^a/emerit  ifur  reJ'otiie' 

tftu  .I't'  rend  iwn'w  (fciLv/oiuv  dere,cii?hmce'. 
K .  liatunenti*  flihioftiero'  et  iuUrf,f/iman/if  itartie 

Je  LJrnitv/rtiin'itufe . 

F.  L'Armee  nwiuffev  (/fva/i/  /e Fort  tP-'^Crotai  ^ 
tfue  hif  Krfuitfrw/^  ittranttonnent . 

G .  Ntwire  Fhhu>rtter,f  tfur  /fur,f  ancn'tf  . 
W.Lit'u  Jn<  Deharipwment  de.f  FltluM/nvv pour 

/'tit/iunif  ttti  Convent  t/e  ^otre  Jhwie  >  /•/'  Iti 
Poitpe  et  (/u  Fort  tf.^Lauve   . 

ETAT  DES  VAISSEAUX 

KT  1)K  CAPITAINE^ 
Qiii  conipo8t>ieiit  la  Hofe  . 

Ia'  Sccptrf N.J)e  Fomti'tf  . 

Le  S*.  Louis De  Levi/ . 

LeVermandois JDu  Buufifon  . 

L'.A|)oflou De  Oontbaut . 

Le  Furieux ........ .De  iaiMofhe  . 

La  JVfutine J)e  Ma<firtac  . 

L'Avenejit De  Fran  cine  . 

Le  Mariii De  Fatutriffo  . 

Le  Fort Le  F^De  Ooitlopon  . 

Le  S'.  JVficJjcJ DeMai-o/e<f 

Le  Pont  chai'ti-iiin  ....  De  J/or/ua  J'Jnib/evil . 
Lafiwn^aisedeS'.Miilo.  De  in  ri7/e-tiU'07iWia<f  . 


ING  OF  CARTAGEN^A  IN    1 697 


ADMIRALS  DE  POINTIS  AND  DU  CASSE   121 

connoissance  both  de  Pointis  and  du  Casse  were  convinced 
that  this  fort  so  effectually  commanded  the  city  that  no  at^ 
tempt  could  be  made  to  capture  it  until  the  fort  had  been 
taken.  It  was  decided  to  reach  the  fort  from  the  direction 
of  La  Popa  and  to  mine  it,  but  the  strength  of  the  ex^ 
pected  resistance  appears  to  have  been  over/estimated,  as 
shortly  after  the  beginning  of  a  spirited  attack  upon  the 
fort,  to  which  a  feeble  return  fire  was  made,  the  garrison 
took  advantage  of  the  absence  of  troops  upon  the  side  op/ 
posite  to  the  attackers,  and  abandoned  the  fort.  De  Pointis 
in  his  report  of  this  engagement  states  that  he  found  only 
nine  killed  and  wounded  within  the  fort,  and  that  of  his 
own  troops  one  officer  and  five  men  were  killed  and  two 
officers  wounded. 

Near  the  bottom  of  the  walls  of  San  Lazaro  a  narrow 
causeway  and  bridge,  now  called  the  Puenta  Media  Luna, 
connects  the  mainland  with  the  outer  town  or  suburb 
of  Cartagena,  called  Getsemani,  well  protected  on  the 
side  toward  the  land  by  strong  walls.  The  French  troops 
were  advanced  to  this  bridge,  fascines  built,  artillery  from 
the  ships  landed,  and  on  the  twenty/eighth  active  opera/ 
tions  against  the  town  began.  Of  the  twenty/seven  guns 
landed,  several  were  of  the  heaviest  then  known,  and  six 
of  the  large  ones  were  placed  only  a  little  more  than  one 
hundred  yards  from  the  gate.  During  these  preparations, 
the  ships,  although  somewhat  undermanned,  owing  to 
the  large  numbers  of  men  engaged  on  shore,  had  en/ 


122      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

deavoured  to  effectively  bombard  the  town  from  the  har/ 
hour,  but  had  not  been  able  to  get  near  enough  to  do 
any  great  damage,  nor  could  their  fire  reach  the  bastion 
against  which  the  land  forces  were  directing  their  efforts. 
After  some  days  of  more  or  less  continuous  firing  by  the 
guns  of  lesser  size,  de  Pointison  the  twenty /ninth,  having 
his  larger  guns  now  in  position,  appointed  the  thirtieth 
for  a  grand  combined  assault  by  both  the  troops  and  ships. 
Du  Casse,  however,  on  the  twenty /ninth,  fi-om  a  position 
he  had  taken  at  the  end  of  one  of  the  trenches,  saw  clearly 
a  breach  in  the  walls,  in  strengthening  which  the  Span/ 
iards  were  hurriedly  engaged.  Upon  his  report  and  ad/ 
vice,  de  Pointis  decided  to  press  the  attack  at  that  point, 
which  was  done,  and  with  such  good  effect  that  on  the 
thirtieth  of  April  both  buccaneers  and  French  pressed 
through,  driving  the  Spanish  troops  before  them  toward 
the  gates  of  the  city.  The  Spanish  troops,  however,  were 
obliged  to  make  one  more  stand  against  the  attacking 
forces,  as  the  Governor  of  Cartagena  refused  to  open  the 
gates  to  them  until  they  had  attacked  the  French  troops 
in  Getsemani.  Against  their  forced  and  somewhat  unex/ 
pected  assault  the  French  troops  fell  back  for  a  few  mo/ 
ments,  but  rallying,  drove  them  again  toward  the  city 
gates,  which  this  time  were  opened  to  them.  The  loss  to 
the  Spanish  troops  upon  the  walls  and  during  the  retreat 
through  the  streets  of  Getsemani  is  reported  to  have  been 
very  heavy,  and  without  counting  the  earlier  losses  which 


ADMIRALS  DE  POINTIS  AND  DU  CASSE   123 

were  more  difficult  to  determine,  de  Pointis  stated  that 
he  found  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  pierced  with  bayo/ 
nets  in  this  last  engagement.  His  own  losses  he  reported 
to  be  sixty  killed  and  rather  more  than  that  number 
wounded. 

On  the  first  of  May  preparations  were  made  for  at/ 
tacking  the  town  itself,  both  from  the  land  and  fi-om  the 
ships.  On  the  second,  the  bombardment  began,  and  after 
three  hours'  firing  the  Governor  asked  for  terms.  At  first 
de  Pointis  refused,  but  through  a  friendly  Indian,  and  also 
by  a  messenger  fi-om  one  of  his  officers  left  at  Boca  Chica, 
who  had  been  reconnoitring  on  the  mainland,  he  learned 
of  the  approach  from  the  interior  of  two  re/enforcing 
troops  of  about  one  thousand  men  each ;  this  news  made 
de  Pointis  more  ready  to  treat. 

The  news  of  the  faU  of  Getsemani  apparently  reached 
the  relieving  forces,  who,  believing  it  too  late  to  render 
effective  help,  kept  clear  of  the  city.  On  the  third.  Car/ 
tagena  capitulated  on  the  following  terms,  in  the  making 
of  which  du  Casse  appears  to  have  tried  to  exercise  a 
moderating  influence : 

That  all  public  effects  and  office  accounts  should  be 
delivered  to  the  captors. 

That  merchants  should  produce  their  books  of  ac/ 
counts,  and  deliver  up  all  money  and  eflfects  held  by  them 
for  their  correspondents. 

That  every  inhabitant  should  be  free  to  leave  the  town. 


124      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

or  to  remain  in  his  dwelling.  That  those  who  retired 
should  first  deliver  up  all  their  property  to  the  captors. 
That  those  who  remained  should  declare  faithfully,  under 
penalty  of  entire  confiscation,  the  gold,  silver,  and  jewels 
in  their  possession ;  on  which  condition,  and  upon  deliv/ 
ering  up  one/half,  they  should  be  permitted  to  retain  the 
other  half  and  afterwards  be  regarded  as  subjects  of  France. 

That  the  churches  and  religious  houses  should  be  spared 
and  protected.    » 

Some  days  were  taken  in  preparations  for  the  evacua^ 
tion  by  the  Spanish  and  it  was  not  until  the  sixth  day  after 
the  surrender  that  the  Spanish  commander.  Count  Ugnez 
de  los  Rois,  with  about  twenty/eight  hundred  men, 
marched  out  through  two  files  of  the  French  soldiers  and 
seamen  and  the  buccaneers. 

It  has  been  alleged,  particularly  by  Spanish  historians, 
that  the  Governor  of  Cartagena  acted  traitorously  in  mak/ 
ing  this  capitulation,  and  that  he  was  bribed  by  de  Pointis. 
There  does  not  appear,  however,  to  be  any  evidence  to 
substantiate  this. 

The  problem  to  secure  possession  of  the  large  amount 
of  silver  in  the  town  and  at  the  same  time  to  prevent 
unwarranted  pillaging  by  the  troops,  especially  by  the 
buccaneers,  was  a  serious  one.  De  Pointis  recognizing 
the  control  which  du  Casse  had  proved  himself  to  have 
over  the  buccaneers,  and  appreciating  too  the  upright/ 
ness  of  his  character,  appointed  du  Casse  Governor  of 


ADMIRALS  DE  POINTIS  AND  DU  CASSE   125 

Cartagena.  Notwithstanding  all  precautions,  however,  a 
considerable  amount  of  private  looting  both  by  officers 
and  men  took  place. 

For  the  orderly,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  certain  way  of 
securing  the  treasure  held  in  the  city,  de  Pointis  pubKcly 
declared  that  one/tenth  part  of  whatever  was  honestly 
brought  to  him  would  be  returned  to  the  proprietors, 
and  also  a  tenth  part  given  to  the  informers  of  all  that 
should  be  secured  by  information  given  of  those  who  had 
not  declared  their  effects.  This  expedient  appears  to  have 
been  particularly  successful,  although  the  total  amount 
received  was  less  than  had  been  expected.  The  news  of 
the  expedition  had  been  heralded  along  the  coast  suffix 
ciently  in  advance  for  much  of  the  valuable  property  to 
have  been  removed  before  the  approach  of  the  French  fleet. 

The  amount  of  gold  and  silver  stated  by  de  Pointis  to 
have  been  collected  amounted  to  between  eight  and  nine 
millions,  whether  crowns  or  livres,  de  Pointis  does  not 
say.  Du  Casse  believed  the  amount  secured  to  be  above 
twenty  million  livres. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  this  sum  was  collected 
without  friction  nor  without  the  exercise  of  that  rigid 
authority  which  the  possession  of  absolute  power  gave  de 
Pointis;  on  the  whole,  however,  reasonable  moderation 
appears  to  have  been  used,  and  the  stipulations  of  the  ca/ 
pitulation  treaty  adhered  to  with  as  much  care  as  the  cir/ 
cumstances  made  possible. 


126      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

The  climate,  to  which  the  troops  were  unused,  supple^' 
merited  by  their  excesses,  brought  on  an  epidemic  of  a 
contagious  distemper,  so  that  in  six  days'  time  eight  hun/ 
dred  men  were  affected,  a  large  proportion  of  whom  died. 
The  losses  occasioned  by  this  distemper  and  from  other 
causes  made  the  question  of  manning  the  ships  for  depart 
ture  a  difficult  one,  and  raised  new  differences  between 
de  Pointis  and  du  Casse,  which  were  augmented  by  dis/ 
putes  over  the  sharing  of  the  booty. 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  agreement  made  before 
leaving  Cape  Tiberon,  du  Casse  claimed  for  the  buccal 
neers  and  himself  a  one/quarter  part  of  the  eight  millions. 
To  learn  from  de  Pointis  that  under  the  arrangement  with 
the  King,  a  tenth  part  only  of  the  first  million  and  a  thir/ 
tieth  part  of  the  sum  remaining,  was  all  that  could  be 
allotted  to  the  whole  body  of  men,  was  a  great  disappoint/ 
ment  to  him,  and  at  once  brought  about  almost  open  hos/ 
tilities.  Instead  of  the  two  millions  they  had  expected, 
the  share  allotted  to  the  buccaneers  was  actually  forty 
thousand  crowns.  The  rage  of  du  Casse  was  intense,  and 
but  for  the  fact  that  de  Pointis  had  already  put  the  treasure 
aboard  his  ships  and  arranged  to  man  them  without  help 
from  the  buccaneers,  serious  trouble  might  not  have  been 
avertedo  In  doing  this,  de  Pointis  was  forced,  on  account 
of  his  great  losses  in  men,  to  sail  with  a  lesser  fleet,  aban/ 
doning  some  of  the  undesirable  ships,  and  leaving  others 
for  the  use  of  the  buccaneers. 


ADMIRALS  DE  POINTIS  AND  DU  CASSE    127 

Distressed  as  he  was  by  this  unsatisfactory  settlement, 
and  by  the  feeling  that  he  had  been  treated  unfairly,  du 
Casse  appears  to  have  done  his  best  to  prevent  disturb/ 
ances,  and  kept  back  the  statement  of  the  accounting  from 
his  men  until  they  were  themselves  all  embarked.  On  the 
thirtieth  of  May,  on  the  eve  of  sailing,  de  Pointis  was 
stricken  with  the  distemper,  and  giving  over  the  command 
to  Vice/ Admiral  Levy,  ordered  him  to  steer  for  Cape 
Tiberon.  Meanwhile,  the  ships  had  completed  the  ruin 
of  the  fort  at  Boca  Chica,  and  on  the  thirty/first  the  squad/ 
ron  put  to  sea. 

Upon  the  departure  of  the  French  ships  and  the  fiill 
realization  of  the  small  allotment  of  plunder  they  had  re/ 
ceived,  the  buccaneers  first  wished  to  follow  and  capture 
the  flag/ship  of  de  Pointis,  and  might  indeed  have  tried 
and  possibly  accomplished  their  purpose  had  not  one 
among  them  suggested  that  they  immediately  return  and 
again  plunder  Cartagena.  This  resolution  was  made  with/ 
out  consulting  du  Casse,  who  had  sailed  on  the  **Pont/ 
"  chartrain,"  with  the  determination  of  going  first  to  Santo 
Domingo  and  then  to  France  to  demand  redress  from  the 
King.  When  he  learned  the  purpose  of  the  buccaneers, 
he  sent  back  orders  for  them  to  desist ;  but  the  possibility 
of  immediate  success  overbalanced  the  weight  of  his  influ/ 
ence.  On  the  first  of  June  both  de  Pointis  and  du  Casse 
had  sailed,  and  the  buccaneers  returned  and  took  posses/ 
sion  of  Cartagena  without  the  possibility  of  resistance,  de/ 


128       ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

manding  five  million  livres  as  the  price  of  their  renewed 
departure.  In  four  days  this  sum  was  nearly  raised,  show/ 
ing  that  the  more  orderly  methods  of  de  Pointis  had  not 
wholly  stripped  the  town  of  its  wealth. 

After  a  stop  of  about  three  days  the  buccaneers  again 
sailed,  making  up  a  squadron  of  nine  vessels.  When  less 
than  one  hundred  miles  on  their  course  toward  Santo 
Domingo,  they  were  sighted  by  an  English  and  Dutch 
fleet  which  had  been  sent  out  to  intercept  de  Pointis.  The 
French  squadron  had,  however,  been  able  to  escape  them 
on  account  of  superior  sailing,  but  the  buccaneers  were 
less  fortunate,  two  of  their  richest  ships  were  taken  and 
two  others  driven  on  shore.  On  its  way  to  France  the 
squadron  under  de  Pointis,  who  early  recovered  his  health, 
barely  escaped  capture  several  times,  but  finally  arrived  at 
Brest,  on  the  twenty/ninth  of  August,  1697. 

The  news  of  the  victory  at  Cartagena,  as  has  been  al/ 
ready  noted,  materially  helped  to  end  the  war,  and  within 
three  weeks  after  the  arrival  home  of  the  fleet,  peace  was 
declared. 

The  seal  of  oflicial  sanction  was  not  only  stamped  upon 
this  expedition  at  its  inception,  but  the  royal  approval  of 
the  employment  of  the  filibusters  and  buccaneers  was 
given  at  its  close.  Du  Casse  was  decorated  and  thanked 
by  the  French  King. 

A  suit  was  brought  in  France  on  behalf  of  the  bucca/ 
neers  and  the  others  who  had  engaged  in  the  expedi/ 


ADMIRALS  DE  POINTIS  AND  DU  CASSE   129 

tion  under  du  Casse,  and  they  were  finally  awarded  the 
sum  of  four  hundred  thousand  livres.*  It  is  said,  how/ 
ever,  that  the  bulk  of  this  was  consumed  in  expenses  and 
lost  through  the  dishonesty  of  those  who  handled  it. 

*  The  Minister  of  Marine  by  direction  of  the  King  wrote  to  du  Casse  : 
"  qu'il  lui  perniettait  de  porter  la  croix  de  Saint  Louis,  quoiqu'il  ne  fut  pas  re^u  ; 
**  que  Sa  Majeste  avail  fait  rendre  justice  aux  habitants  et  filibustiers,  que  par  la 
«*  convention  faite  entre  le  chevalier  de  Galliftet  et  les  interesses  de  rarmement, 
«il  leur  reviendrait  quatre  cent  miile  livres,  suivant  Tarret  du  Conseil  d'Etat, 
«*  dont  copie  lui  etait  envoyee,  que  partie  de  cette  somme  serait  delivree  en  ar- 
<*gcnt,  partie  en  marchandises,  munitions  et  negres." 


CHAPTER  V 

ADMIRAL  VERNON 

THE  somewhat  uncertain  peace  brought  about  in  Eu/ 
rope  in  1736,  largely  through  the  efforts  of  Sir 
Robert  Walpole,  served  to  strengthen  the  family  compact 
between  the  Bourbon  Courts  of  France  and  Spain  and  to 
give  time  for  the  increase  of  the  naval  forces  of  these 
countries,  rather  than  to  encourage,  as  Walpole  had  hoped, 
a  continued  tranquillity. 

The  great  sea/power  of  England  had  made  possible 
the  development  of  a  large  English  trade  with  Spanish 
America  during  the  alliance  of  England  and  Spain  in  the 
war  against  France.  This  growing  commercial  supremacy 
of  England  was  naturally  unwelcome  to  Spain,  and  both 
by  enforcing  the  limitations  placed  upon  trading,  inserted 
in  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht,  and  by  annoying  restrictions  in 
the  Spanish  ports  of  America,  Philip  endeavoured  to  re/ 
duce  to  almost  a  disappearing  point  English  intercourse 
with  the  Spanish  colonies. 

English  trading  vessels,  always  at  that  time  partially 
armed,  had  frequent  encounters  with  Spanish  vessels,  and 
on  neither  side  were  the  agreed/upon  stipulations  duly 
respected.  Walpole,  more  prudent  than  the  adventurous 
traders  of  England  believed  consistent  with  the  honour 
of  his  country,  vainly  tried  to  hold  down  the  clamourers 


ADMIRAL  VERNON  131 

for  war  in  Parliament.  The  final  event  which  made  the 
efforts  of  Walpole  wholly  powerless  for  peace  had  its  basis 
in  the  seizure  off*  the  Spanish  Main,  by  the  ship  "  Isabel," 
of  an  English  merchant  ship  loaded  with  contraband 
stuffs,  under  Captain  Jenkins.  The  commander  of  the 
"Isabel"  appears  to  have  treated  Captain  Jenkins  with 
unusual  cruelty,  and  before  releasing  him  cut  off"  one  of 
his  ears.  In  the  spring  of  1739,  actually  some  years  after 
the  event,  there  was  displayed,  amid  great  excitement,  to 
the  members  of  the  House  of  Commons,  what  may  have 
been  the  mangled  ear  of  Robert  Jenkins.  The  pressure 
was  too  great,  Walpole  had  to  give  way,  and  on  the  fif/ 
teenth  of  June,  1739,  war  was  declared  against  Spain.* 

*  DECLARATION  OF  WAR  IN  1739 

Trusty  and  well  Beloved  —  We  greet  you  Well  — 

Whereas  several  unjust  seizures  have  been  made  and  depredations  carried  on 
in  the  West  Indies  by  Spanish  Guarda  Costas  and  Ships  acting  under  the  Com- 
mission of  the  King  of  Spain  or  his  Governors  contrary  to  the  Treatys  subsisting 
between  us  and  the  Crown  of  Spain  and  to  the  Law  of  Nations  to  the  Great 
prejudice  of  the  lawfull  Trade  &  Commerce  of  our  subjects;  and  many  cru- 
cltys  and  barbaritys  have  been  exercised  on  the  Persons  of  such  our  subjects 
whose  vessels  have  been  so  seized  by  the  said  Spanish  Guarda  Costas 5  And 
whereas  frequent  complaint  has  been  made  to  the  Court  of  Spain  of  these  unjust 
practices  and  no  satisfaction  or  Redress  been  procured ;  and  whereas  a  Conven- 
tion for  makeing  reparation  to  our  subjects  for  the  losses  sustained  by  them  on 
account  of  the  unjust  seizure  &  Captures  above-mentioned  was  concluded  be- 
tween Us  and  the  King  of  Spain  on  the  14th  day  of  January  last,  N.S.,  by  which 
convention  it  was  stipulated  that  a  certain  sum  of  money  should  be  paid  at  Lon- 
don within  a  Term  specified  in  the  sd.  Convention  as  a  balance  due  on  the  part 
of  Spain  to  the  Crown  and  subjects  of  Great  Britain  which  Term  did  expire  on 
the  25th  day  of  May  last  and  the  paymt  of  the  said  sum  agreed  by  the  sd  Con- 
venfion  has  not  been  made  according  to  the  Stipulation  for  that  purpose,  by 


132      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

Among  the  members  of  Parliament  concerned  in  this 
demonstration  and  violently  opposed  to  the  Ministry,  as 
well  as  equally  violently  urging  a  war  of  reprisal  against 
Spain,  was  Captain  Edward  Vernon,  a  naval  officer,  who 
urged  that  an  immediate  expedition  be  sent  out  against 
Puerto  Bello ;  he  vigorously  asserted  that  it  could  not  only 
be  captured,  but  pledged  himself  to  take  it  with  six  ships 

which  means  the  Convention  above-mentioned  has  been  manifestly  violated  & 
Broke  by  the  King  of  Spain  and  our  Subjects  remain  without  any  Satisfaction 
or  reparation  for  the  many  Great  &  Grievous  losses  sustained  by  them  :  We 
have  tho't  fit  for  ye  vindicating  the  Honour  of  Our  Crown  &  for  procuring  Rep- 
aration and  Satisfaction  for  our  Injured  subjects  to  order  Reprisals  to  be  made 
upon  the  Crown  &  subjects  of  Spain.  And  We  do  therefore  by  virtue  of  these 
presents  authorize  &  impower  you  to  issue  forth  and  grant  Commissions  of 
Marque  &  Reprisals  to  any  of  our  loveing  subjects  or  others  who  shall  apply  to 
you  for  the  same  and  whom  you  shall  deem  fitly  qualified  in  that  behalf.  For 
Armeing  and  fiting  out  Private  Ships  of  War  for  the  apprehending,  seizing  and 
taking  the  Ships,  vessels  &  goods  belonging  to  the  King  of  Spain,  his  vassals  & 
subjects  or  any  inhabiting  within  his  Countrys  Territories  &  Dominions  in  the 
West  Indies. 

Provided  always  that  before  any  such  Commission  or  Commissions  be  Issued 
forth,  security  be  given  upon  such  Commission  as  hath  been  used  in  such  cases. 
And  you  shall  insert  in  every  Commission  to  be  so  granted  by  you  all  such 
clauses  and  give  such  Directions  &  Instructions  to  the  Person  or  Persons  to 
whom  you  shall  grant  such  Commissions  as  have  been  usual  in  cases  of  the  like 
nature.  And  for  so  doing  this  shall  be  your  warrant.  And  so  we  bid  you  fare- 
well. 

Given  at  our  Court  at  Kensington  the  fifteenth  day  of  June  1 739,  in  the  thir- 
teenth year  of  our  Reign. 

By  his  Majesty's  Command 

HoLLis  Newcastle 

Superscribed  "To  our  Trusty  &  Well  Beloved  Jonathan  [Belcher]  Esq., 
«*our  Capt.  General  &  Govt  in  chief  of  our  Provinces  of  the  Massa.  Bay  and 
<*NewHampshire  in  America  &  in  his  Absence  to  our  Commander  in  Chief 
"  or  to  the  President  of  Council  of  our  said  Province  for  the  time  being.'* 


ADMIRAL  VERNON  133 

only.  In  order  more  clearly  to  appreciate  the  bearing  of 
the  influence  of  Vernon  upon  the  events  of  this  time,  and 
more  particularly  upon  the  expedition  associated  with  his 
name,  it  is  necessary  to  glance  at  the  record  of  his  previ/ 
ous  career.  He  appears  to  have  had  an  amount  of  influx 
ence  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  a  popular  favour 
outside,  which  made  it  impossible  for  the  minister  to 
whom  he  was  opposed  to  ignore  either  the  plans  he  pro/ 
posed  or  his  own  offer  to  command  the  expedition. 

Edward  Vernon  was  the  second  son  of  James  Vernon, 
Secretary  of  State  to  William  III,  and  was  born  in  West/ 
minster  the  twelfth  of  November,  1684.  After  a  thorough 
study  of  the  classics  and  the  mathematical  sciences,  he  was 
allowed  by  his  family  to  yield  to  a  natural  taste  for  the 
sea,  and  entered  the  navy  in  170 1.  He  was  with  Admiral 
Hopson  in  the  **  Torbay  "  at  Vigo,  the  twelfth  of  October, 
1702,  and  was  second  lieutenant  on  the  **  Resolution"  in 
the  expedition  against  Hispaniola  commanded  by  Captain 
Walker.  Afterwards  he  served  with  distinction  with  Ad/ 
miral  Sir  George  Rook  and  with  Sir  Cloudesley  Shovel. 
His  first  command  as  captain  was  of  the  "Jersey,"  in 
which  he  was  sent  to  Port  Royal,  Jamaica,  and  for  three 
years  had  a  successful  career  on  the  West  Indian  station, 
capturing  many  prizes.  This  was  followed  by  many  years 
of  more  important  commands,  chiefly  in  the  Baltic,  inter/ 
spersed  with  intervals  of  serving  in  the  House  of  Com/ 
mons.  It  was  the  belief  in  England  that  if  Puerto  Bello 


134      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

and  Cartagena  were  taken,  the  Spanish  power  in  the  New 
World  would  be  irredeeniably  broken,  and  shortly  after 
the  declaration  of  war  Vernon  was  given  a  commission 
as  Vice/ Admiral  of  the  Blue,  and  placed  in  command  of 
a  squadron  of  ships  of  war  to  be  sent  to  the  West  Indies. 
His  instructions  were  **To  destroy  the  Spanish  settle/ 
"ments  in  the  West  Indies  and  to  distress  their  shipping 
**  by  any  method  whatever." 

The  squadron  consisted  of  the  **Burford"  of  seventy 
guns  and  five  hundred  men,  "Lenox"  of  seventy  guns 
and  four  hundred  and  eighty  men,  **  Elizabeth"  of  sev/ 
enty  guns  and  four  hundred  and  eighty  men,  "  Kent"  of 
seventy  guns  and  four  hundred  and  eighty  men,  **  Worces/ 
"ter"  of  sixty  guns  and  four  hundred  men,  **  Strafford" 
of  sixty  guns  and  four  hundred  men,  ** Princess  Louisa" 
of  sixty  guns  and  four  hundred  and  twenty  men,  "Nor/ 
"wich"  of  fifty  'guns  and  three  hundred  men,  and 
"Pearl"  of  forty  guns  and  two  hundred  and  forty  men, 
in  aU  nine  ships  carrying  a  total  of  five  hundred  and  fifty 
guns  and  thirty/seven  hundred  men. 

Admiral  Vernon  sailed  from  Portsmouth  the  twenty/ 
third  of  July,  1739,  and  after  some  delays  and  digressions, 
occasioned  chiefly  by  an  unsuccessful  search  for  a  squad/ 
ron  of  the  enemy  near  the  Spanish  coast,  arrived  at  Port 
Royal,  Jamaica,  the  twelfth  of  October.  With  this  as  a 
base  the  Admiral  proposed  to  attack  Puerto  Bello  and  Car/ 
tagena,  with  such  of  his  squadron  as  he  had  remaining, 


ADMIRAL  VERNON 


ADMIRAL  VERNON  135 

several  vessels  having  been  detached  for  special  service 
to  harass  the  Spanish  merchantmen.  The  ships  remaining 
were  the  "Burford,"  "Princess  Louisa,"  "Worcester," 
*'  Strafford,"  and  "  Norwich,"  and  to  these  the  Admiral 
was  able  to  add  at  Port  Royal  the  **  Hampton  Court"  of 
seventy  guns  and  four  hundred  and  ninety/five  men,  and 
**  Sheerness"  of  twenty  guns  and  three  hundred  men,  to/ 
gether  with  two  hundred  marines  obtained  from  Gov/ 
crnor  Trelawney. 

On  the  fifth  of  November  this  squadron  set  sail,  the 
"  Sheerness"  being  sent  as  a  scout  in  the  direction  of  Car/ 
tagena,  while  the  rest  headed  for  Puerto  Bello,  ofl^  which 
port  they  lay  to  on  the  twentieth  of  that  month.  On  the 
twenty/first  he  attacked  the  Iron  Fort,  so  called,  at  the 
harbour's  entrance,  with  his  fiiU  strength  at  close  range, 
and  with  such  vigour  that  after  a  short  but  spirited  re/ 
sistance  it  surrendered.  The  next  morning  while  instruc/ 
tions  were  being  given  to  govern  the  attack  upon  the  re/ 
maining  fortresses  of  San  Jeronimo  and  Gloria  Castle,  a 
boat  with  a  flag  of  truce  came  to  the  Admiral's  ship,  the 
result  of  which  was  a  speedy  capitulation  on  the  follow/ 
ing  terms  dictated  by  Admiral  Vernon : 

'*  Articles  of  Capitulation  granted  by  Edward  Vernon, 
"Esq.,  Vice/ Admiral  of  the  Blue  and  Commander/in/ 
"Chief  [of  His  Majesty's  Ships  and  Vessels  in  the  West 
"Indies,  and  Commodore  Brown;  to  Don  Francisio  Mar/ 
"  tinez  de  Retey,  Governor  of  Porto  BeUo,  and  Don  Fran/ 


136      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

<*cisio  de  Albaroa,  Commandant  of  the  Guarda  Costas  at 
"the  same  place,  the  22nd  November,  1739,  O.S. 

**  1st  Article.  That  the  garrison  be  allowed  to  march 
*'out,  as  desired,  upon  condition  the  King  of  Great  Brit/ 
**  ain's  troops  be  put  into  possession  of  Gloria  Castle,  be/ 
"fore  four  of  the  clock  this  evening,  and  the  garrison  to 
"march  out  by  ten  of  the  clock  to/morrow  morning. 

"That  the  inhabitants  may  either  remove  or  remain, 
"  under  the  promise  of  security  for  themselves  and  their 
"  effects. 

"  2nd.  That  the  Spanish  soldiers  may  have  a  guard,  if 
"they  think  it  necessary. 

"  3rd.  They  may  carry  off  two  cannons  mounted  with 
"  ten  charges  of  powder  for  each,  and  their  match  lighted. 

"4th.  The  gates  of  the  Gloria  Castle  must  absolutely 
"  be  in  possession  of  the  King  our  master's  troops  by  four 
"  of  the  clock,  and  the  Spanish  garrison  shall  remain  in  all 
"safety  for  their  persons  or  effects  till  the  appointed  time 
"of  their  marching  out,  and  to  carry  with  them  provi/ 
"  sions  and  ammunition  necessary  for  their  safety. 

"5th.  That  the  ships  with  their  apparel  and  arms,  be 
"absolutely  delivered  up  to  the  u^  of  his  Brittanic  Maj/ 
"esty;  but  that  all  the  officers,  both  soldiers  and  crew, 
"  shall  have  three  days  allowed  them  to  retire  with  all 
"  their  personal  effects ;  only  one  officer  being  admitted  on 
"  board  such  ship  and  vessel,  to  take  possession  for  the  King 
"our  master,  and  see  this  article  strictly  complied  with. 


ADMIRAL  VERNON  137 

"  6th.  That  provided  the  Articles  above  mentioned  are 
"  strictly  complied  with,  and  that  possession  be  given  of 
**  Castle  St.  Jeronimo  in  the  same  manner  as  is  stipulated 
"for  the  Castle  Gloria,  then  the  Clergy,  the  Churches 
*/  and  Town  shall  be  protected  and  preserved  in  all  their 
"  immunities  and  properties,  and  that  all  prisoners  already 
"taken  shall  be  set  at  liberty  before  our  leaving  the  port. 
**  Given  under  our  hands  on  board  his  Majesty's  ship 
"  BuRFORD  in  Porto  Bello  harbour,  the  22nd  day  of  No/ 
"vember,  1739,  O.S. 

"  E.  Vernon 
"Chas.  Brown" 

As  a  result  of  this  capitulation,  the  English  fleet  se/ 
cured  two  Spanish  men/of/war  of  twenty  guns  each,  one 
other  vessel,  forty  brass  cannons,  four  brass  mortars,  eight/ 
een  smaller  brass  guns,  a  quantity  of  ammunition,  and 
about  ten  thousand  dollars.  The  fortifications  and  some 
eighty  iron  cannons  were  rendered  useless  before  the  de/ 
parture  of  the  squadron,  which  shortly  returned  to  Ja/ 
maica. 

As  had  been  predicted,  Puerto  Bello  was  taken  with  six 
ships,  and  when  the  news,  which  had  been  despatched 
to  London,  reached  there,  the  thanks  of  both  Houses  of 
Parliament  were  voted  to  the  Admiral. 

The  English  reports  of  this  victory  state  the  number 
of  men  taken  to  have  been  five  officers  and  thirty/five 


138      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

men  "out  of  three  hundred,  the  rest  being  either  killed 
"  or  wounded  or  having  made  their  escape  " ;  the  Spanish 
accounts,  however,  declare  that  Puerto  Bello  was  defended 
by  a  total  of  thirty  men  and  five  cannons,  and  Spanish 
historians  point  with  amusement  to  the  celebration  of  this 
victory  in  London.  The  actual  record  of  the  number  of 
cannons  taken  away,  however,  and  other  circumstances, 
make  it  appear  improbable  that  the  Spanish  version  is 
strictly  correct,  although  it  is  equally  probable  that  the 
English  account  exaggerates  the  strength  of  the  Spanish 
garrison. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  exact  facts,  the  nation 
was  intoxicated  with  joy  at  the  news  of  the  victory.  That 
the  forts  were  only  partially  manned  was  not  known ;  the 
simple  fact  that  Vernon's  boast  had  been  made  good  and 
Puerto  Bello  taken  with  six  ships  was  the  glorious  news 
and  all  that  was  needed  to  make  of  him  a  popular  hero. 
Hundreds  of  different  medals  were  struck  to  commemo/ 
rate  the  event.*  Vernon  was  the  idol  of  the  hour. 

On  the  twenty/fifth  of  February,  1740,  Admiral  Ver/ 
non,  after  refitting  his  ships,  sailed  again  from  Jamaica 
for  the  Spanish  Main,  and  from  the  sixth  to  the  ninth  of 
March  bombarded  Cartagena,  doing  some  damage,  but 
also  receiving  enough  injuries  to  his  smaller  craft  to  make 
it  expedient  to  sail  to  Puerto  Bello  to  eff*ect  repairs.  On  the 

*  Admiral  Vernon  Medals,   1739-174*,  by  Dr.  Malcolm   Storcr,  Proc. 
Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  April,  1919. 


i> 


THIS  rz^ir 

of  the  Harboiu;Town  and  Forts  of 
F  Oil  TO  BTLLO 

(JaktM  by  Edward  Vernon  Efcj: 

on  t!)(>.'i'^ofN()veinb(T  r3(). With  Six  Men  of  War  onlv,)| 

]])rawn  bv  Lieuteri'  niilipDurelJ : 
Is  most   Jlmnbly  Iiifcribed  to  the 

ErR  Lord  ComnHisioncr  oi  the   Admiralty.       j 


^.,'  »y.^  •■„..  .■:..„  r':-,r  .K  ■U',t.-»  ,:,.,.■  ,u.„  .:;.•.•./,/.  ,y.,>./^. 


/,■  ,/'if//^i^ 


A    .S.-..I..    of   Iwo   KiiyliHi    Mil 


ADMIRAL  VERNON  139 

twenty/second  of  March  he  attacked  Chagres,  lying  off 
that  place  and  keeping  up  a  moderate  but  continual  bom/ 
bardment,  until  on  the  twenty/fourth  the  garrison  capit/ 
ulateA  The  ships  engaged  in  the  bombardment  were  the 
**  Strafford,"  *«  Norwich,"  **  Falmouth,"  and  **  Princess 
"Louisa."  After  seizing  a  considerable  quantity  of  goods 
of  value  from  the  custom/house  stores,  and  taking  on 
board  all  serviceable  brass  cannons  and  other  guns,  the 
custom-house  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  on  the  thirtieth 
the  squadron  sailed  again  for  Jamaica. 

That  the  strength  of  the  Cartagena  fortifications  was 
fully  realized  is  clear  from  the  fact  that  before  he  again 
assaulted  that  place,  Admiral  Vernon  remained  almost 
constantly  for  months  at  Jamaica,  re/enforcing  his  squadron 
with  ships  and  men.  Late  in  the  year  his  squadron  was 
joined  by  a  number  of  store  ships  under  convoy,  and  by 
transports  with  troops.  In  January,  1 741,  he  was  further 
re/enforced  by  a  squadron  under  Rear/ Admiral  Sir  Chalo/ 
ner  Ogle,  consisting,  with  those  already  arrived,  of  thirty 
ships  of  the  line  and  some  ninety  other  vessels,  the  ships 
manned  by  fifteen  thousand  sailors.  The  land  troops  sent 
out  from  England  amounted  to  about  twelve  thousand, 
these  latter  being  augmented  at  Jamaica  by  about  thirty/ 
six  hundred  troops  from  the  American  colonies.* 

♦  These  American  troops  were  made  up  as  follows:  from  Massachusetts,  fire 
companies  j  Rhode  Island,  two  companies  j  Connecticut,  two  companies ; 
New  York,  five  companies  j  New  Jersey,  three  companies  $  Pennsylvania, 
eight  companies  ;    Maryland,  three  companies  j  Virginia,  four  companies  j 


140       ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

The  command  of  the  land  troops  had  been  given  to 
Major/General  Lord  Cathcart,  who  unfortunately  died  be/ 
fore  reaching  Jamaica,  and  the  command  fell  upon  Brig/ 
adier/General  Thomas  Wentworth,  who  appears  to  have 
been  particularly  unsuited  for  the  great  responsibility 
thrust  upon  him. 

The  causes  which  led  to  the  later  practical  failure  of 
this  expedition  against  Cartagena  cannot  be  attributed  to 
the  lack  of  proper  preparations  or  equipments,  nor  to  the 
haste  employed ;  indeed,  the  expedition  appears  to  have 
been  planned  with  the  most  careful  regard  to  all  details. 
Vessels  were  engaged  in  scout  service  to  determine  as 
clearly  as  possible  the  whereabouts  of  the  French  squad/ 
ron  under  Admiral  the  Marquis  d'Antin,  and  careful  ob/ 
servations  had  been  made  of  the  fortifications  about  Car/ 
tagena,  the  prevalent  weather  conditions,  currents,  etc., 
as  well  as  the  depths  of  water  off  the  town  and  at  the  Boca 
Chica  forts.  The  instructions  given  to  the  fleet  on  sailing 
from  Jamaica  divided  the  fighting  vessels  into  three  di/ 
visions,  one  under  Vice/Admiral  Vernon  (Commander/in/ 
Chief),  one  under  Rear/ Admiral  Sir  Chaloner  Ogle,  and 
one  under  Commodore  Lestock.  The  fleet  comprised 
some  thirty  line/of/battle  ships,  twenty/two  frigates,  and 
a  large  miscellaneous  squadron  of  transports,  fire/ships, 

North  Carolina,  four  companies.  Among  other  American  officers  was  Colonel 
Laurence  Washington,  and  it  was  on  account  of  his  association  with  Admiral 
Vernon  that  Mount  Vernon  subsequently  received  its  name. 


ADMIRAL  VERNON 


141 


bomb/ketches  *  and  tenders,  in  all   one  hundred  and 
twenty/four  sail.-]-  Not  unnaturally  the  rumours  of  these 

*  Small  light  draught  vessels  carrying  one  or  more  guns  or  mortars. 

•j-  Sailing  and  Fighting  Instructions  given  to  the  Fleet  on  their 

Sailing  from  Jamaica,  by  Edward  Vernon,   Esq^,  Vice-Admiral 

of  the  Blue,  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  His  Majesty's  Ships 

AND  Vessels  in  the  West  Indies 

Line  of  Battle 

The  Princess  Amelia  to  lead  with  the  Starboard,  and  the  Suffolk  with 
the  Larboard  Tacks  on  Board.  But  if  I  shall  find  it  necessary  from  the  differ- 
ent Motions  of  the  Enemy,  to  change  our  Order  of  Battle,  to  have  those  who 
arc  now  appointed  to  lead  on  the  Starboard  Tack,  to  continue  to  lead  the 
fleet  on  the  Larboard  Tack  on  our  going  about,  or  those  now  to  lead  on 
the  Larboard  Tack,  on  the  contrary  to  do  the  same,  as  the  Exigency  of 
the  Service  may  require  j  I  will,  with  my  Signal  for  Tacking,  hoist  a  Dutch 
Jack  on  the  Flag  Staff,  under  the  Union  Flag,  the  usual  Signal  for  Tacking  when 
they  are  to  continue  to  lead  the  Fleets  on  their  respective  Tacks,  accordingly. 
Rear  Admiral  of  the  Blue,  Sir  Chaloner  Ogle 


Frigaus 

Rates 

Ships  Names 

Captains 

Men 

Guns 

3d. 

Princess  Amelia 

Hemmington 

600 

80 

4th. 

Windsor 

Berkley 

400 

60 

Experiment 

York 

Coatet 

400 

60 

Sheemesa 

3<i. 

Norfolk 

Graves 

600 

80 

Vesuvius  Fircship 

Sir  C.  Ogle      ) 

RuMd 

\ 

615 

80 

Terrible  Bomb 

Capt.  Norris     ) 

Phaeton 

Shrewsbury 

Townsend 

600 

80 

Goodley 

4th. 

Rippon 

Jolley 

400 

60 

Litchfield 

Cleveland 

300 

50 

Jersey 

Lawrence 

400 

60 

Tilbury 

Long 

400 

60 

Vice-Admiral  of  the 

Blue,  Vernon 

Frigatet 

Rates 

5*/^*  Names 

Captains 

Men 

Guns 

Squirrel 

3d. 

Orford 

Lt.  Aug.  Fitzroy 

480 

70 

Shoreham 

4th. 

Princess  Louisa 

Staplcton 

400 

60 

Eleanor 

Augusta 

Dennison 

400 

60 

Seahorse 

Worcester 

Perry  Mayne 

400 

60 

Strumbolo 

Sd- 

Chichester 

Robert  Trevor 

600 

80 

Success 

Princess  Carolme 

Adm.  Vernon  ) 
Capt.  Watson  ] 

620 

80 

Vulcan 

Torbay 

Gascoigne 

600 

80 

Cumberland 

4th 

Strafford 

Tho.  Trevor 

400 

60 

Aldcrrey  Bomb 

Weymouth 

Knowles 

400 

60 

Pompey 

Deptford 

Moyston 

400 

60 

Brig.  Tender 

3d. 

Burford 

Griffen 

480 

70 

142       ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

preparations  for  the  attack  on  Cartagena,  reached  that 
place  weeks  before  the  news  became  a  certainty,  through 


Commodore  Lestock 

'j  Division 

Frigates 

Rates 

Ships  Names 

Captains 

Men 

Guns 

4th. 

Defiance 

John  Trevor 

400 

60 

Dunkirk 

Cooper 

400 

60 

Astrea 

Lyon 

Cotterel 

400 

60 

Wolf  Sloop 

3d. 

Prince  Frederic 

Ld.  A.  Beauclerc 

480 

70 

Aetna 

Boyne 

Com.  Lestock 
Capt.  Colby 

600 

80 

Firebrand 

Hampton  Court 

Dent 

480 

70 

Virgm  Queen 

4th. 

Falmouth 

Douglass 

300 

50 

Montague 

Chambers 

300 

60 

3d. 

Suffolk 

Davers 

480 

70 

Signals 
When  the  Admiral  would  speak  with  the  Captain  of  any  Ship  under-men- 
tioned, he  will  raise  a  pendant,  as  against  the  Ship' s  name,  and  of  the  Colour 
set  above  itj  if  a  Lieutenant,  the  same  Signal  with  a  Weft  of  the  Ensign; 
and  if  a  Boat  without  an  Officer,  the  Weft  will  be  hoisted  but  half  Staff  up. 
Memorandum,  when  I  would  have  any  of  the  Fireships,  Bombs  or  Tenders, 
taken  in  tow  at  the  same  Time  I  make  the  Signal  for  the  Ship  that  is  to  tow, 
and  for  the  Ship  that  is  to  be  tow'd,  I  will  hoist  up  a  Flag  Blue  and  White, 
at  the  Flag-staff  of  the  Main-top-mast-head. 


Red 

JVhite 

Blue 

Tello-w 

Boyne 

Pss.  Amelia 

Chichester 

Terrible 

Main   ] 

) 

Norfolk 

Suffolk 

Shrewsbury 

Elenor 

Fore 

-  top-Mast      1 

Worcester 

Lyon 

Defiance 

Etna 

Mizen  J 

1       head 

Tilbury 

Squirrel 

Torbay 

Firebrand 

Starbd 

'  Main-topsail 
Yard-Arm 

Windsor 

Pss.  Louisa 

Falmouth 

Vesuvius 

Larbd 

Burford 

P.  Frederick 

Strafford 

Phaeton 

Starbd       ] 

^^  Fore-topsail 
>       Yard-arm 

Montague 

Orford 

Weymouth 

Strombolo 

Larbd   j 

Shoreham 

Augusta 

Pss.  Caroline 

Success 

Starbd       i 

^  Mizen-topsail 
^       Yard-arm 

Hamptoncourt 

Dunkirk 

Jersey 

Vulcan 

Larbd    J 

Litchfield 

Lud.  Castle 

Deptford 

Cumberland 

Starbd 

Main-yard- 

Experiment 

Rippon 

York 

Alderney 

Larbd 

arm 

Sea  Horse 

Sheerness 

Russell 

BrigTender 

Starbd       ' 

'  Fore-yard- 

Astrea 

Wolf 

Virgin  Qu. 

Larbd 

,       arm 

Pompey 

Starbd       ] 

Cross-jack- 

Goodley 

Larbd     1 

yard-arm 

When  the  Ships  are  in  Line  of  Battle,  the  Frigates,  Fireships,  Bombs  and 
Tenders,  are  to  keep  on  the  opposite  Side  of  the  Enemy,  when  I  make  the 
Signal  in  Line  of  Battle,  for  the  Van  of  the  Fleet  to  tack  first  in  order  to  gain 
the  Windward  of  the  Enemy,  then  each  Ship  is  to  tack  in  the  Head -most  Ship's 
weak,  for  losing  no  Ground.    For  all  other  Sigpials  they  are  referred  to  the 


ADMIRAL  VERNON  143 

the  definite  reports  of  a  French  ship  which  appears  to 
have  been  sent  to  Cartagena  by  the  French  Adniiral  ex/ 
pressly  to  warn  the  inhabitants  of  the  impending  attack. 
During  the  last  week  in  January,  1741,  the  three  di/ 
visions  sailed  from  Port  Royal,  a  few  days  apart,  effecting 
a  junction  at  sea  on  the  thirty/first,  and  making  Cape 
Tiberon,  on  the  western  extremity  of  Hispaniola  (now 
the  island  of  Haiti  and  San  Domingo)  on  the  seventh  of 
February.  After  several  days  of  careful  reconnoitring  to 
make  certain  whether  or  not  the  French  fleet  had  sailed 
for  Europe  as  reported,  the  three  divisions  came  to  an/ 
chor  in  the  bays  near  the  cape.  On  the  twenty/fifth  of 
February  the  fleet  left  for  Cartagena  under  easy  sail,  and 
came  to  anchor  on  the  fourth  of  March  a  few  leagues  to 
windward  (that  is,  to  the  eastward)  of  the  town  of  Car/ 
tagena,  between  that  place  and  Punta  Canoas.  During 
several  days  detailed  preparations  for  the  attack  were 
made,  and  various  councils  of  war  held,  one  of  which 
settled  the  important  matters  relative  to  the  distribution 
of  the  expected  booty,  and  one  confirming  the  Admiral's 
plan  of  attack.  Great  care  seems  to  have  been  taken  to 
obtain  as  complete  plans  as  possible  of  the  forts  at  Boca 
Chica,  and  careful  soundings  were  made  by  some  of  the 
smaller  vessels  all  along  the  Tierra  Bomba  shore  and  at 
the  entrance  to  the  harbour.  A  feint  at  landing  on  the 

General  printed  Sailing  and  Fighting'  Instructions,  and  such  other  additional 
instructions  as  you  received  from  me. 


144       ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

shore  side  of  the  town  was  made  by  some  of  the  smaller 
vessels,  apparently  for  the  purpose,  a  hope  to  some  extent 
realized,  of  engaging  the  attention  of  the  enemy  from  the 
real  landing/point  at  Boca  Chica. 

On  the  morning  of  the  ninth.  Sir  Chaloner  Ogle,  with 
his  division,  moved  forward  to  the  attack,  followed  by 
Admiral  Vernon  with  his  division  and  all  the  transports, 
leaving  the  division  under  Commander  Lestock  at  anchor. 
As  the  ships  moving  to  leeward  approached  Boca  Chica, 
the  small  fort  of  Chamba  (on  Tierra  Bomba,  east  of  Boca 
Chica  Castle)  fired  a  few  shots,  but  was  soon  silenced  and 
deserted.  Three  of  the  eighty /gun  ships  were  anchored 
close  to  the  forts  of  San  Jago  and  San  Felipe,  and  main/ 
tained  a  very  hot  fire,  so  that  these  forts  were  soon  de/ 
serted ;  the  evening  of  that  day  grenadiers  were  landed 
and  took  possession  of  them  without  meeting  any  resist/ 
ance.  Also  during  the  evening,  from  the  bomb/ketches 
and  from  those  of  the  ships  which  could  comfortably 
approach,  a  continual  fire  was  kept  up  against  Boca  Chica 
Castle,  which  was  returned  with  some  spirit,  under  cover 
of  which  firing  troops  and  artillery  were  landed  during 
the  night  and  next  forenoon.  The  troops  were  encamped 
under  the  protection  of  a  woody  growth  near,  but  appar/ 
ently  somewhat  protected  from,  Boca  Chica  Castle.  It 
was  during  and  immediately  after  the  landing  of  these 
troops  that  the  serious  differences  of  opinion  between 
General  Wentworth  and  Admiral  Vernon  began  to  arise, 


HARBOR   AND  BAY 

CARmCENA. 

—  IN   1741   


.-I'oin  confeTnpararjr  maps  ana.  ™V  "^ 

recordn  c«irreclcid  lay  recent  surrtys.     *»|». 

FRANCIS  RUSSCLL  HART    F.R.e.8. 

ia»8 


/     %      'M     '/*     o 


'  ADMIRAL  VERNON  145 

differences  which  afterwards  were  to  prove  to  a  large  ex/ 
tent  the  cause  of  the  failure  of  the  expedition,  and  which 
served  at  once  to  create  a  most  unfortunate  feeling  of  an/ 
tagonism  between  the  sea  and  land  forces.  The  Admiral 
complained  of  the  delays  of  the  troops  to  press  the  attack 
upon  the  castle,  and  on  the  eleventh  he  and  Sir  Chaloner 
Ogle  joined  in  a  letter  to  General  Wentworth  urging  imme/ 
diate  action.  That  delays  somewhat  difficult  to  understand 
did  take  place  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  on  the  nine/ 
teenth,  owing  to  complaints  from  General  Wentworth, 
several  vessels  undertook  successfriUy,  but  with  some  dif/ 
ficulty,  to  silence  the  Baradera  Battery  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  harbour  entrance,  the  fire  from  which  reached 
the  encampment  of  the  troops,  and  on  the  twenty/first 
of  March,  at  a  council  of  war  of  the  naval  commanders, 
complaint  as  to  the  slow  progress  of  the  troops  was  for/ 
mally  made.  Finally,  on  the  days  from  the  twenty/fourth 
to  the  twenty/sixth,  by  the  co/operation  of  the  vessels 
and  troops,  both  Boca  Chica  Castle  and  the  San  Jose  for^ 
tress  were  taken,  as  was  also  one  of  the  Spanish  ships. 
The  San  Jose  fortress  appears  to  have  been  almost  deserted- 
when  taken,  and  it  is  probable  that  this  fort  was  not  ac/ 
lively  defended.  That  the  defence  of  Boca  Chica  Castle 
itself  was  gallant  and  spirited  is  certain  from  the  clear  rec/ 
ord  of  the  extensive  operations  against  it.  Before  it  was 
taken,  however,  the  defenders  had  largely  made  their 
escape,  and  had  found  time  to  partially  block  the  channel 


146    ^  ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

up  the  bay  by  sinking  the  Spanish  ships  "Africa'*  and 
*'  San  Carlos,"  and  to  burn  the  ship  **  San  Felipe  "  on  the 
shore. 

During  the  next  few  days  the  fleet  was  able  to  enter 
the  bay;  the  batteries  at  the  small  Passo  Caballos  en/ 
trance  were  easily  destroyed  and  a  safe  anchorage  estab/ 
lished.  The  forts  at  Boca  Chica  were  adequately  garri/ 
soned,  the  troops  re/embarked,  and  preparations  were 
made  for  the  real  attack  upon  the  city. 

The  Spanish  Viceroy,  Lieutenant/General  Don  Sebas/ 
tian  de  Eslaba,  was  resident  at  Cartagena,  and  the  Gov/ 
ernor  of  the  city  was  Don  Bias  de  Leso.  According  to 
contemporary  Spanish  accounts,  the  forces  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Viceroy  and  Governor  were  eleven  hundred  vet/ 
eran  soldiers,  three  hundred  militia,  six  hundred  In/ 
dians,  and  two  companies  of  negroes  and  free  mulattoes. 
The  naval  forces  in  the  harbour  were  six  ships  with  six 
hundred  seamen  and  four  hundred  soldiers,  making  about 
four  thousand  men  in  all.  These  are  probably  accurate 
estimates  of  the  actual  Spanish  forces,  and  it  is  certain 
that  the  strength  of  the  defence  of  the  place  was  |due  to 
its  well/built  fortifications  rather  than  to  the  number  of 
its  defenders,  whose  numbers  were  undoubtedly  much 
fewer  than  the  attacking  forces.  The  Viceroy  had  ample 
notice  of  the  coming  of  the  attacking  expedition,  and 
concentrated  his  small  forces  at  important  points  on  the 
walls  of  the  city  itself  and  at  San  Lazaro,  a  strong  for/ 


ADMIRAL  VERNON  147 

tress,  built  on  a  slight  elevation,  outside  the  walls,  and 
guarding  the  approach  to  the  city  from  the  land  side. 
The  strategic  importance  of  this  fortress,  and  a  general 
idea  of  the  walls  and  other  fortifications  of  Cartagena, 
can  best  be  obtained  by  a  glance  at  the  maps. 

It  was  considered  essential  by  the  attacking  forces  to 
first  occupy  San  Lazaro,  and  indeed  if  this  had  been  accom/ 
plished  it  is  probable  that  the  remaining  Spanish  troops 
would  have  been  insufficient  to  make  any  long  eff^ective 
resistance  to  an  entrance  into  the  city.  At  a  council  of 
war  held  on  board  the  **  Princess  Caroline,"  on  the  thir/ 
tieth  of  March,  in  Cartagena  Harbour,  in  which  the  divi/ 
sion  commanders  of  both  the  sea  and  land  forces  took  part, 
it  was  resolved  to  land  the  troops  at  a  convenient  point 
on  the  south  side  of  the  harbour,  under  protection  of  the 
guns  of  the  ships ;  the  first  duty  of  the  troops  to  be  to  cut 
off  aU  land  communications  fi-om  the  city.  On  the  first 
few  days  of  April  troops  were  landed  at  Isla  de  Gracias 
close  to  Mansanilla  Castle,  from  which  a  fairly  good  road 
reached  into  the  town,  passing  under  the  walls  of  San 
Lazaro.  This  landing  was  made  without  opposition,  the 
guns  from  the  ships  sweeping  the  country  between  Isla 
de  Gracias  and  San  Lazaro,  and  the  landing-place  being 
beyond  the  range  of  the  guns  at  Castillo  Grande ;  the  rel/ 
ative  positions  of  these  places  and  others  referred  to  in 
this  account  are  clearly  indicated  on  the  maps. 

With  the  landing  of  the  troops  the  dissensions  between 


148      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

the  commanders  of  the  land  and  sea  forces  began  anew; 
Admirals  Vernon  and  Ogle  appear  to  have  constantly  con/ 
demned  the  procrastination  of  General  Wentworth  and 
urged  the  necessity  for  immediate  action  if  serious  ravages 
of  sickness  among  the  troops  were  to  be  avoided ;  Gen/ 
eral  Wentworth  as  constantly  urged  the  necessity  for  more 
efficient  co/operation  on  the  part  of  the  fleet,  asserting 
that  the  ships  should  be  brought  into  the  inner  harbour, 
where  the  town  itself  and  (more  particularly)  San  Lazaro 
would  be  within  effective  range  of  fire.  The  experiment 
of  sending  one  of  the  captured  ships  into  the  inner  har/ 
hour  was  tried  by  Admiral  Vernon,  but  the  ship,  although 
apparently  finding  sufficient  water,  was  finally  of  neces/ 
sity  abandoned,  as  unsupported  it  could  not  stand  the  close 
fire  from  the  city  walls.  This  incident,  which  furnished 
one  of  the  prime  causes  of  dispute  among  the  respective 
partisans  of  Admiral  Vernon  and  General  Wentworth, 
both  then  and  later  in  England,  is  easily  understood  by 
those  familiar  with  the  harbour  of  Cartagena.  The  water 
in  the  inner  harbour  is  now,  and  undoubtedly  was  then, 
too  shallow  to  hold  ships  of  the  size  of  Vernon's  fighting 
vessels,  but  through  a  very  narrow  and  twisting  channel 
it  is  quite  possible  that  one  or  two  ships  might  with  care/ 
ful  piloting  enter  the  inner  harbour. 

The  friends  of  General  Wentworth,  in  charging  Ad/ 
miral  Vernon  with  neglect  in  this  instance,  were  clearly 
in  the  wrong,  as  were  those  also  who  supported  General 


ADMIRAL  VERNON  149 

Wentworth's  claim  that  the  fleet  did  not  give  its  full  sup/ 
port  to  his  requests  by  preventing  communication  with 
the  town  from  the  shore  to  the  eastward.  Admiral  Ver/ 
non,  when  requested  to  do  so  by  General  Wentworth,  ap/ 
pears  to  have  kept  so  far  as  possible  the  stretch  of  shore 
to  the  eastward  under  the  guns  of  some  of  his  ships,  but 
it  could  not  have  been  an  easy  matter  with  the  sailing 
craft  of  that  day  to  remain  off  a  lee  shore  at  times  of  high 
wind  and  with  a  strong  westerly  current,  ready  night  and 
day  to  fire  upon  a  small  strip  of  sand  overgrown  with  man/ 
groves. 

In  his  criticism  of  the  land  operations  under  General 
Wentworth,  Admiral  Vernon,  somewhat  overbearing  by 
nature,  seems  to  have  been  to  some  extent  unjust,  and 
that  he  clearly  underestimated  the  strength  of  San  Lazaro 
is  evident  from  letters  which  he  wrote  at  the  time.  It 
seems  doubtful  whether  in  attacking  San  Lazaro,  its  weak/ 
est  and  most  approachable  side  was  accurately  determined 
in  advance;  but  whether  this  was  so  or  not,  General  Went/ 
worth  decided  that  without  eflfecting  a  breach  an  attack 
would  be  impracticable,  and  much  time  was  consumed  in 
attempting  to  raise  a  battery  for  the  purpose,  as  well  as 
in  correspondence  with  Admiral  Vernon,  respecting  the 
use  of  the  vessels  of  the  fleet  for  effecting  the  breach. 
During  this  time  the  bulk  of  the  American  colonial  troops 
had  been  left  on  the  ships,  their  usefulness  being  doubted, 
more  particularly  because  a  large  proportion  of  them  were 


150      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

believed  to  be  Papists ;  by  direction  of  General  Went/ 
worth  these  were  landed  on  the  sixth  of  April,  and  after/ 
wards  are  credited  by  the  land  officers  to  have  rendered 
gallant  services. 

On  the  ninth  of  April,  pressed  on  the  one  side  by  the 
reproaches  of  Admiral  Vernon  for  the  long  delays,  and 
threatened  day  by  day  with  a  lessening  power  of  attack 
due  to  the  rapidly  increasing  sickness  among  his  troops, 
General  Wentworth,  with  the  consent  of  a  council  of  war 
of  the  land  officers,  attempted  to  carry  San  Lazaro  by 
storm.  The  attack  was  intended  to  be  by  night,  but  owing 
either  to  the  trickery  of  native  guides,  or  to  badly  formed 
plans  on  the  part  of  General  Wentworth,  the  attack  was 
begun  upon  the  almost  precipitous  southern  side  of  the 
fortress,  with  scaling  ladders  of  insufficient  length.  This 
unfortunate  error  served  to  warn  the  Spanish  troops,  and 
the  real  attack  hardly  began  before  the  broiling  hot  tropi/ 
cal  sun  shone  relentlessly  upon  the  attacking  forces.  With 
a  bravery  deserving  better  guidance  the  troops  stood  their 
ground,  enduring  for  hours  the  terrible  fire  from  above 
their  heads  and  the  burning  rays  of  the  sun ;  but  the  ram/ 
parts  were  not  carried,  and  finally  the  troops  were  forced 
to  retire  leaving,  it  is  said,  half  their  number  either  dead 
or  wounded  at  the  foot  of  the  walls  of  the  fortress.  At  a 
council  of  war  of  the  naval  commanders  (Vernon,  Ogle, 
and  Lestock)  on  the  twelfth  of  April,  it  was  recommended 
that  in  view  of  the  land  forces  having  been  unable  to  erect 


ADMIRAL  VERNON  151 

a  battery  for  effecting  a  breach  in  the  walls  of  San  Lazaro, 
and  their  having  failed  to  storm  it  otherwise,  and  also  in 
view  of  the  great  sickness  prevailing,  that  *<  it  will  be  for 
"  the  King's  service  to  desist  from  the  enterprise  as  im/ 
•'practicable."  At  a  council  of  war  of  the  land  officers 
on  the  thirteenth  of  April,  the  blame  for  the  failure  to 
carry  San  Lazaro  was  attributed  to  the  failure  of  the  fleet 
to  adequately  co/operate ;  but  the  failure  of  the  «under/ 
taking  was  admitted  and  definite  plans  for  the  embarka/ 
tion  of  the  troops  were  suggested.  On  the  fifteenth  the 
stores  were  taken  on  board  the  ships,  and  on  the  day  fol/ 
lowing  the  troops,  sadly  reduced  in  numbers  and  many 
very  ill,  were  re/embarked.  So  great  were  the  losses  to 
the  troops  through  disease  and  battle  that  not  over  one 
third  of  the  land  troops  appear  to  have  returned  with  the 
fleet  to  Jamaica. 

For  about  a  fortnight  after  the  troops  were  re/embarked, 
the  Admiral  kept  the  fighting  vessels  employed  in  de/ 
stro)n[ng  the  forts  and  batteries,  the  structural  strength  of 
some  of  which,  particularly  of  Castillo  Grande,  appears 
to  have  been  so  great  as  to  have  made  the  work  both  dif/ 
ficult  and  tedious.  Also  during  the  interval  before  sailing 
an  arrangement  was  made,  by  means  of  courteous  letters 
exchanged  under  flags  of  truce  between  the  Admiral  and 
the  Viceroy,  for  an  exchange  of  prisoners.  On  the  twenty/ 
fourth  of  April,  at  a  general  council  of  war,  it  was  de/ 
termined  to  sail  for  Jamaica  as  soon  as  possible,  and  by 


152       ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

the  eighth  of  May,  1 741,  the  great  fleet  had  left  Carta*' 
gena,  having,  it  is  true,  rendered  useless  the  defences  of 
the  harbour  and  destroyed  six  heavy  ships  and  some  minor 
craft,  but  having  failed  to  enter  the  city  or  to  obtain  any 
substantial  booty. 

The  earlier  successes  of  Vernon  made  the  news  of  his 
failure  all  the  more  distressing  to  the  English  people,  and 
the  expedition  and  the  causes  leading  to  its  failure  played 
a  not  unimportant  part  in  English  politics  for  some  time. 
Unhappily  the  first  despatches  to  reach  England  indicated 
a  repetition  of  the  success  at  Puerto  Bello ;  premature 
celebrations  of  victory  took  place  and  more  medals  were 
struck.  For  much  of  the  blame  put  upon  Vernon  for  the 
ineflTectiveness  of  the  Cartagena  expedition  Smollett  is 
responsible.  As  a  surgeon's  mate  he  had  accompanied  the 
fleet  and  undoubtedly  his  personal  experiences  were  not 
agreeable.  Both  as  a  historian  and  in  **  Roderick  Random  " 
Smollett  shows  that  his  views  were  coloured  by  his  own 
personal  relation  to  the  events.  Wentworth  showed  him/ 
self  incompetent  both  in  preparation  and  in  performance 
and  lacking  in  the  qualities  of  decision  and  resourcefulness. 
Vernon,  on  the  other  hand,  was  an  apostle  of  efficiency ; 
his  real  place,  however,  was  in  command  at  sea,  and  to 
some  extent  he  must  share  the  blame  for  the  failure  of 
the  expedition  to  realize  its  full  purpose.  Vernon  realized 
the  importance  of  sea/power,  and  in  one  of  his  official 
letters  says  that  he  is  «*  strongly  convinced  that  preserv/ 


ADMIRAL  VERNON  153 

"ing  a  superiority  at  sea  is  the  best  security  for  His  Maj/ 
"esty's  Government,  as  well  as  of  the  trade  and  prosper/ 
"  ity  of  this  Kingdom." 

Vernon  was  a  strong  advocate  of  the  more  humane 
treatment  of  seamen,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he 
caused  their  ration  of  spirits  to  be  diluted,  retained  their 
affection.  His  popular  name  of  "  Old  Grog  "  came  from 
his  habit  of  wearing  grograin  breeches ;  one  of  his  reforms 
was  to  have  the  rum  which  was  served  the  fleet  regularly 
before  noon  each  day  diluted  with  a  goodly  proportion  of 
water,  a  mixture  which  was  thenceforth  called  **  grog." 


CHAPTER  VI 

LORD  RODNEY 

THE  failure  of  Admiral  Vernon  at  Cartagena  contrib/ 
uted  to  the  downfall  of  Walpole,  but  neither  the  lat/ 
ter*s  retirement  nor  the  lack  of  success  in  the  attack  upon 
the  Spanish  colonies  changed  the  policy  of  England.  The 
possession  of  the  West  Indies  was  of  too  great  strategic 
and  commercial  benefit  to  its  possessor  for  the  struggle 
for  the  control  of  the  Caribbean  Sea  not  to  continue  for 
the  remainder  of  the  eighteenth  century  an  important 
factor  in  the  quarrels  for  European  supremacy.  The  jeal/ 
ousies  of  the  English  and  French  settlers  in  the  Amer/ 
ican  colonies  served  to  add  fresh  causes  of  trouble  be/ 
tween  England  and  France,  and  for  a  time  the  scene  of 
active  hostilities  moved  northward ;  English  troops  were 
sent  out  to  assist  the  colonists  against  the  aggressions  of 
the  French. 

In  Europe  the  restless  peace  following  the  Treaty  of 
Aix/la/Chapelle  did  not  weaken  the  bonds  of  the  family 
compact  of  the  House  of  Bourbon,  which  kept  France 
and  Spain  united  against  England,  and  these  powers  at< 
tracted  to  their  support  both  Austria  and  Russia.  Prussia 
alone  was  in  alliance  with  England  when  the  Seven  Years' 
War  began  in  1 756. 


LORD  RODNEY  155 

In  the  West  Indies  valuable  islands  were  owned  by 
both  France  and  Spain,  and  the  latter  was  still  in  full  en^ 
joyment  of  the  rich  fortified  ports  on  the  mainland. 

At  this  time  there  was  growing  up  in  the  naval  service 
of  Great  Britain  a  naval  officer  destined  to  be  one  of  the 
great  admirals  of  the  English  navy,  and  to  exercise  the 
most  far/reaching  influence  on  the  history  of  the  Carib^ 
bean  Sea. 

George  Brydges  Rodney  was  baptised  on  the  thirteenth 
of  February,  1 7 1 9.  He  came  of  a  Somersetshire  family  of 
some  distinction  and  considerable  antiquity.  While  little 
more  than  a  child  he  was  sent  to  Harrow  School,  which 
he  left  at  the  age  of  twelve  to  serve  six  years  with  the  fleet 
on  the  Newfoundland  station.  At  the  age  of  twenty/one 
he  was  made  lieutenant,  and  served  successively  in  four 
ships  in  the  Mediterranean.  There  appears  to  be  no  doubt 
that,  as  was  not  unusual  at  the  time,  the  high  connections 
of  George  Rodney  contributed  to  his  rapid  advancement, 
although  it  is  equally  true  that  even  in  his  early  career 
he  showed  marked  professional  ability.  In  1742,  at  the 
age  of  twenty/four,  while  serving  under  Admiral  Math/ 
ews  in  the  Mediterranean,  he  was  given  command  of 
the  "Plymouth,"  of  sixty  guns,  as  acting  post/captain, 
to  which  rank  he  was  confirmed  by  the  Admiralty  upon 
his  return  to  England  conveying  three  hundred  mer/ 
chant  ships  from  Lisbon.  This  service,  which  was  so 
well  performed  that  it  earned  for  him  some  public  no/ 


156      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

tice,  made  his  subsequent  appointments  to  command 
conceivably  a  reward  of  merit,  although  it  is  probable 
that  the  exertions  of  his  kinsmen  were  still  needed  in  his 
behalf  to  give  him  the  opportunities  for  which  his  abil/ 
ities  fitted  him.  Ont  appointment  followed  another  for 
several  years,  during  which,  when  in  command  of  the 
« Ludlow  Castle,"  he  captured  the  <*St.  Halves"  priva/ 
teer,  and  did  efficient  work  in  the  transport  and  despatch 
service  during  the  war  with  Scotland. 

In  the  summer  of  1 747,  in  the  **  Eagle,"  of  sixty  guns, 
he  joined  a  small  squadron  which  successfully  intercepted 
a  homeward/bound  French  fleet  from  Santo  Domingo, 
capturing  forty/eight  merchantmen  of  an  aggregate  bur/ 
then  of  over  eleven  thousand  tons,  manned  by  upwards 
of  twelve  thousand  men,  and  richly  laden  with  sugar, 
indigo,  coffee,  and  other  West/Jndian  products.  The  oc/ 
casional  opportunity  to  capture  fleets  of  rich  merchant 
vessels  made  **  commerce  destroying"  a  particularly  lu/ 
crative  if  not  otherwise  notable  service  in  the  days  of 
Hawke,  Vernon,  and  Rodney. 

Later  in  the  same  year  the  **  Eagle,"  still  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Rodney,  formed  part  of  the  squad/ 
ron  of  fourteen  ships  which,  under  Rear/ Admiral  Hawke, 
engaged  the  French  fleet  under  Admiral  L'Etenduere 
oflF  Finisterre.  In  this  engagement,  in  which  six  French 
ships  of  from  fifty  to  seventy/four  guns  were  captured, 
after  a  spirited  resistance  which  permitted  their  convoy 


LORD  RODNEY 

After  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 


LORD  RODNEY  157 

to  escape,  Captain  Rodney  was  distinguished  for  gal/ 
lantry.  Upon  his  return  to  England,  which  did  not  take 
place  until  after  a  successful  engagement  with  a  Spanish 
fleet,  he  was  presented  to  the  King,  who  received  him 
most  graciously. 

In  1748,  exhausted  by  years  of  continuous  war,  the 
powers  were  all  desirous  for  peace.  At  Aix/la/Chapelle, 
April  30,  1748,  a  treaty  was  signed  by  England,  France, 
and  Holland,  and  later  in  the  same  year  by  the  other  bel/ 
ligerent  powers.  Little  had  been  accomplished  by  the 
long  war,  and  the  result  of  the  treaty  was,  with  some  not 
very  important  exceptions,  to  re/establish  the  status  be/ 
fore  the  war.  A  peace  so  unsatisfactory  could  not  be  en/ 
during.  The  frequent  collisions  between  the  English  and 
French  colonists  in  North  America  brought  about  a  con/ 
flict  which  was  inevitable.  Finally  actual  war  was  in  prog/ 
ress,  although  nominal  peace  existed  between  England 
and  France  until  1 756. 

In  1749,  Rodney  had  been  appointed  Governor  and 
Commander/in/Chief  at  Newfoundland,  a  position  which 
developed  his  political  sagacity.  His  selection  for  the  post 
by  his  friend  the  Earl  of  Sandwich,  then  First  Lord  of 
the  Admiralty,  appears  to  have  been  because  of  his  known 
qualities  of  professional  ability  and  discretion.  In  1752, 
he  returned  to  England,  obtained  a  seat  in  Parliament, 
and  saw  no  further  active  service  until  the  outbreak  of 
war,  when  he  accompanied  the  Rochefort  expedition 


158      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

under  Hawke.  In  command  of  the  "  Dublin"  he  was  at/ 
tached  to  the  squadron  under  Admiral  Boscawen,  which 
successfully  attacked  Louisburg  and  Cape  Breton  Island 
early  in  1758.  In  May,  1759,  Rodney,  then  forty  years 
of  age,  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Rear/ Admiral,  and 
given  tlie  command  of  a  small  squadron  sent  to  bombard 
Havre.  In  1761,  Rodney  was  appointed  to  the  Leeward 
Islands  station,  with  headquarters  at  Barbadoes,  and  near 
the  close  of  that  year  took  his  post  in  those  waters  which 
were  to  give  him  his  most  enduring  title  to  fame.  His 
instructions  were  to  attack  the  French  island  of  Marti/ 
nique,  and  troops,  under  command  of  Major/General 
Monckton,  to  assist  him  in  the  operations,  were  sent  to 
him  from  New  York  in  December. 

Admiral  Rodney  had  gone  out  to  his  new  post  with 
four  ships,  three  bomb/ketches  and  a  sloop,  joining  at 
Barbadoes  a  squadron  under  Sir  James  Douglas,  who,  as/ 
sisted  by  troops  under  Lord  Rollo,  had  taken  the  island 
of  Dominica.  With  the  ships  of  the  two  squadrons,  ac/ 
companied  by  the  land  troops.  Admiral  Rodney  arrived 
off  Martinique  on  the  seventh  of  January,  1762.  The  fol/ 
lowing  day,  the  forts  within  range  having  been  silenced 
by  gun/fire  from  the  ships,  the  fleet  anchored  in  the  Bay 
of  St.  Pierre.  One  ship,  the  <*  Raisonnable,"  was  lost  on  a 
reef  through  the  ignorance  of  the  pilot,  during  this 
operation.  Having  thus  secured  a  good  harbour  and  land/ 
ing/place  as  a  base,  joint  operations  of  the  troops  and 


LORD  RODNEY  159 

ships  were  conducted  with  commendable  promptness  and 
regularity.  Two  brigades,  under  protection  of  a  small 
squadron,  were  landed  in  the  Bay  of  Petit  Ance,  and  the 
batteries  at  Grand  and  St.  Anne's  Bay  were  destroyed  by 
fire  from  the  ships. 

On  the  sixteenth,  by  agreement  between  the  Admiral 
and  General  Monckton,  the  ships  silenced  the  batteries 
commanding  the  coast  between  Point  Negro  and  the  Gas 
de  Pilote,  and  General  Monckton,  with  the  whole  re/ 
mainder  of  his  troops,  was  landed  without  accident  by 
a  little  after  daylight  the  next  morning.  With  the  troops 
were  landed  about  nine  hundred  marines,  who  rendered 
the  most  effective  help  in  the  subsequent  operations. 
The  strength  of  the  resistance  offered  and  the  mountain/ 
ous  nature  of  the  country  made  the  progress  of  the  land 
expedition  slow,  partly  no  doubt  owing  to  the  difficulties 
met  in  transporting  the  heavy  ship  mortars  and  cannon 
any  considerable  distance  from  the  sea.  By  the  sixteenth 
of  February,  however,  the  French  troops  had  capitulated 
and  the  British  were  in  full  possession  of  the  island.  In 
Fort  Royal  Bay  the  fleet  had  seized  fourteen  French  pri/ 
vateers,  and  under  the  terms  of  the  capitulation  all  others 
in  the  various  ports  of  the  island  were  to  be  turned  over 
to  Admiral  Rodney.  The  harmony  which  subsisted  be/ 
tween  Admiral  Rodney  and  General  Monckton,  and  the 
consequent  effectual  aid  rendered  by  each  arm  of  the 
service  to  the  other,  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to 


i6o   ,  ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

the  success  of  this  expedition  and  the  speed  and  smooth^ 
ness  with  which  the  operations  were  conducted,  and  is 
in  sharp  contrast  to  the  unfortunate  disputes  which  con/ 
tributed  to  the  failure  of  the  Vernon  expedition.  Admiral 
Rodney,  in  his  report  to  the  Admiralty,  wrote  as  follows : 
'*It  gives  me  the  sincerest  satisfaction  that  I  can  assure 
"  their  Lordships  the  most  perfect  harmony  has  subsisted 
<*  between  the  navy  and  army,  each  vying  in  the  most 
"friendly  manner  which  should  serve  ,His  Majesty  and 
"their  country  best."  General  Monckton  expressed  him/ 
self  in  a  similar  way  in  his  official  despatches. 

From  Martinique  Admiral  Rodney  sent  a  squadron  of 
six  vessels  to  Santa  Lucia,  the  Governor  of  which,  being 
urged  by  the  inhabitants  not  to  offer  resistance,  accepted 
the  terms  of  capitulation  offered  and  surrendered  the  is/ 
land  at  once.  On  the  fifth  of  March,  the  island  of  Gre/ 
nada  surrendered  without  opposition  to  Commodore 
Swanton,  on  the  same  terms  of  capitulation  accepted  by 
the  Governor  of  Santa  Lucia.  The  terms  provided  for 
the  peaceful  withdrawal  and  return  to  France  of  all  troops 
upon  these  islands. 

While  at  Martinique,  Admiral  Rodney  received  im/ 
portant  despatches  by  three  separate  frigates,  which  by  a 
strange  coincidence  arrived  together  on  the  same  day,  the 
fifth  of  March.  These  despatches  advised  him  of  the  De/ 
claration  of  War  against  Spain — news  then  two  months  old 
— and  of  the  escape  from  Brest  of  a  French  squadron  of 


LORD  RODNEY  161 

seven  ships/of/the/line,  frigates,  and  two  thousand  troops. 
Shortly  afterwards  he  received  an  urgent  call  for  help 
from  the  Governor  and  senior  naval  officer  at  Jamaica, 
which  island  was  expecting  an  attack  from  the  united 
French  and  Spanish  forces.  The  situation  was  one  calling 
for  the  qualities  which  Rodney  had  shown  himself  to 
possess.  His  action  was  prompt  and  resolute.  Concentrat/ 
ing  his  greatest  strength  at  Martinique,  the  probable 
point  of  attack  of  the  French  fleet,  and  sending  out  look/ 
out  ships  the  length  of  the  Windward  Islands,  he  pre/ 
pared  to  furnish  adequate  succour  to  Jamaica  if  the  Brest 
fleet  should  pass  by  the  Windward  Islands  and  go  on  to 
the  west  toward  Jamaica  and  Santo  Domingo.  On  the 
ninth  of  March,  two  of  the  lookout  ships  brought  word 
that  the  French  squadron,  of  thirteen  sail  in  all,  had  been 
sighted  some  fifteen  miles  to  windward  of  the  island. 
Admiral  Rodney  at  once  put  to  sea  with  the  ships  he  had 
retained  at  Martinique  (six  ships/of /the/line  and  ten  frig/ 
ates),  but  owing  to  calms  and  to  the  fact  that  the  French 
admiral  had  altered  the  course  of  his  squadron  when  he 
discovered  Martinique  to  have  been  taken  by  the  British, 
the  French  fleet  was  not  sighted.  With  commendable 
promptness  he  prepared  to  sail  for  Jamaica  with  all  the  ships 
at  his  disposal,  but  just  after  sailing  he  received  ftirther  de/ 
spatches  from  England  ordering  him  to  concentrate  a 
powerftil  force  at  his  own  station  for  the  prosecution  of 
an  important  secret  expedition. 


i62      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

Confronted  by  this  serious  situation,  he  took  the  re/ 
sponsibility,  which  a  man  of  lesser  strength  and  profes/ 
sional  experience  might  have  failed  to  take,  of  exercising 
his  general  authority  and  discretion  in  the  interpretation 
of  the  orders  which  the  unhappy  situation  of  Jamaica  de/ 
manded.  He  consequently  sent  Sir  James  Douglas,  with 
a  large  re/enforcement  of  ships,  to  Jamaica,  and  returned 
himself  with  the  remainder  to  Martinique.  In  his  letter 
to  the  Admiralty  explaining  his  purpose  of  relieving  Ja/ 
maica,  he  expressed  himself  with  characteristic  dignity 
and  directness:  **Iflatter  myself  their  Lordships  will  not 
**  be  displeased  with  me  if  I  take  the  liberty  to  construe 
"my  instructions  in  such  a  manner  as  to  think  myself  au/ 
''thorized  and  obliged  to  succour  any  of  His  Majesty's 
"colonies  that  may  be  in  danger."  With  the  added 
strength  of  the  ten  ships/of /the/line  sent  to  Jamaica,  the 
force  there  consisted  of  seventeen  ships/of/the^line  and 
thirteen  frigates.  It  is  certainly  an  evidence  of  the  high 
qualities  of  Admiral  Rodney  that,  disappointed  as  he  was 
by  the  receipt  of  the  secret  despatches,  which  advised 
him  that  all  plans  must  be  subordinated  to  an  expedition 
under  command  of  Admiral  Sir  George  Pocock  and  Lord 
Albemarle,  with  Havana  as  its  objective  point,  he  at  once 
took  the  action  necessary  to  best  protect  the  interests 
under  his  charge,  and  at  the  same  time  arranged  to  co/ 
operate  to  the  fullest  extent  practicable  in  an  expedition 
for  which  credit  would  go  to  others. 


LORD  RODNEY  163 

The  vessels  of  his  own  squadron  he  ordered  to  rendez/ 
vous  in  Fort  Royal  Bay,  Martinique,  and  despatched  a 
frigate  to  meet  Sir  George  Pocock  and  advise  him  of  the 
fact.  He  also  had  taken  the  precaution  to  instruct  Sir 
James  Douglas  to  despatch  a  frigate  from  Jamaica  to  meet 
Admiral  Pocock  and  to  give  him  the  latest  intelligence. 

At  Martinique,  Rodney,  with  his  greatly  depleted 
squadron,  hastened  to  get  everything  in  readiness  against 
the  arrival  of  Sir  George  Pocock  and  Lord  Albemarle. 
The  troops  which  could  be  spared  from  General  Monck/ 
ton's  command  were  embarked  on  transports  several  days 
before  the  arrival  from  England  on  the  twenty/sixth  of 
April,  1762,  of  Sir  George  Pocock  with  the  new  forces. 
Unhappily  at  this  time  Admiral  Rodney  was  taken  very 
ill  with  bilious  fever,  and  was  obliged  to  be  taken  on 
shore  at  St.  Pierre.  The  preparations  necessary  for  water/ 
ing  the  fleet  and  in  other  matters  required  until  the  sixth 
of  May,  when  the  men^of/war  and  transports  under  com/ 
mand  of  Sir  George  Pocock  sailed,  a  meeting/place  for  a 
convoy  with  troops  from  Jamaica  having  been  arranged. 

The  Leeward  Islands  station,  under  Rodney,  was  now 
left  in  a  very  weakened  state.  The  detachment  of  so 
many  vessels  and  troops  left  a  small  force  with  which  to 
protect  the  chain  of  islands  which  had  been  taken  by 
Rodney,  and  that  he  felt  keen  anxiety  is  shown  by  his 
despatches  to  the  Admiralty  written  at  the  time.  Not/ 
withstanding  the  bad  state  of  his  health,  Rodney  dealt 


i64      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

vigorously  with  all  the  annoying  problems  of  his  station. 
Owing  to  the  precautions  taken  and  to  the  prestige  he  and 
his  ships  had  acquired,  no  event  of  importance  disturbed 
the  Leeward  Islands  station  during  the  remainder  of  the 
Seven  Years'  War.  Admiral  Pocock  effected  a  junction 
with  the  Jamaica  re/enforcement  late  in  May,  and  pro/- 
ceeded  through  the  Bahama  Channel  on  the  north  side 
of  Cuba,  a  passage  then  not  carefully  charted,  and  ap/ 
peared  before  Havana  with  his  great  fleet  about  the  twen/ 
tieth  of  June.  After  a  prolonged  siege  of  forty  days,  Moro 
Castle  was  taken  on  the  thirtieth  of  July.  About  a  fort/ 
night  later,  Havana  surrendered.  The  capture  included 
some  dozen  ships/of/the/line  and  nearly  fifteen  million 
dollars'  worth  of  goods  and  money.  With  the  Lesser  An/ 
tiUes  in  the  grasp  of  Rodney  and  Havana  surrendered  to 
Pocock,  Cartagena  was  the  only  fortified  naval  base  of 
consequence  left  to  Spain  in  the  West  Indies  not  infested 
with  British  ships. 

In  October  of  the  same  year,  Manila  was  captured  by 
the  British  and  a  ransom  of  four  million  dollars  paid. 
Spain  suflfered  at  the  same  time  other  severe  losses  through 
the  capture  of  several  homeward/bound  treasure  ships. 
In  September,  peace  was  declared  and  made  effective  by 
a  treaty  signed  on  the  tenth  of  February,  1763.  The 
treaty,  so  far  as  it  related  to  the  West  Indies,  gave  Ore/ 
nada,  the  Grenadines,  Dominica,  St.  Vincent,  and  Tobago 
to  Great  Britain.  Guadeloupe,  Martinique,  and  St.  Lucie 


LORD  RODNEY  165 

were  restored  to  France  (the  entire  province  of  Canada 
and  part  of  Louisiana  being  ceded  to  the  EngKsh).  Spain 
gave  up  to  England  all  that  she  possessed  on  the  conti/ 
nent  of  North  America  to  the  east  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  and  Havana  was  restored  to  Spain. 

In  October,  1762,  Admiral  Rodney  was  made  Vice/ 
Admiral  of  the  Blue.  He  returned  to  England  in  August, 
1763,  and  in  January  of  the  next  year  was  made  a  Baro/ 
net.  For  five  years,  from  December,  1 765,  he  served  as 
Governor  of  the  Royal  Hospital  at  Greenwich.  In  1770, 
he  was  made  Vice/ Admiral  of  the  White,  and  in  1771, 
Vice/ Admiral  of  the  Red.  In  January,  177 1,  he  was  ap/ 
pointed  Commander/in/Chief  at  Jamaica.  In  this  position 
he  was  unable  to  retain,  somewhat  to  his  chagrin,  as  he 
appears  to  have  needed  the  additional  income  to  reheve 
his  pecuniary  embarrassments,  his  position  as  Governor 
of  the  Hospital. 

On  the  twenty/fourth  of  July,  with  a  squadron  of  six 
ships,  he  arrived  at  his  new  post,  Port  Royal,  Jamaica,find/ 
ing  there  six  vessels  under  Commodore  Mackenzie.  With 
the  promptness  and  decision  which  was  always  a  charac/ 
teristic  of  Rodney,  he  had  not  been  in  command  of  the 
station  a  fortnight  before  he  had  put  surveying  parties  at 
work  planning  a  proper  watering/place,  afterwards  per/ 
fected,  for  the  vessels  of  the  fleet  at  Rock  Fort,  to  replace 
the  tedious  method  of  boat  carriage  then  employed.  Po/ 
litical  ability  and  tactfubess  of  a  high  order  were  needed 


i66      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

in  the  commander  charged  with  keeping  the  peace  and 
upholding  the  dignity  of  the  British  flag  in  those  waters 
at  this  time,  and  Rodney's  demonstrated  ability  in  this 
direction  undoubtedly  was  a  convincing  reason  for  his 
selection.  The  peace  concluded  at  the  end  of  1762  had 
not  served  to  establish  free  commercial  relations  between 
the  Spanish  and  British  colonies,  and  regulations  of  the 
most  exclusive  and  irritating  nature  were  imposed  at  all 
the  Spanish  ports  in  the  Caribbean  Sea.  As  was  natural, 
smuggling  continued  and  increased.  Jamaica,  surrounded 
by  a  circle  of  Spanish  ports,  became  the  centre  of  an  il/ 
licit  trade.  To  facilitate  trade  relations  Jamaica  established 
several  free  ports,  which  brought  about  increased  vigi/ 
lance  on  the  part  of  the  Spanish  coast  guards.  This  at^ 
tempted  protection  of  the  Spanish  ports  was  chiefly  by 
small  vessels  called  *<  guarda^costas."  A  profitable  busi/ 
ness  was  done  by  both  English  and  French  traders  in 
eluding  these  vessels  and  transporting  goods  to  and  from 
Jamaica,  which  served  as  a  market/place  for  the  trade. 

Shortly  after  Rodney's  arrival  in  Jamaica,  the  island, 
particularly  the  towns  of  Kingston  and  Port  Royal,  were 
damaged  by  an  earthquake,  the  most  severe  that  had  been 
experienced  since  the  great  one  of  1692,  but  the  fleet 
met  with  no  great  injury.  Embarrassed  as  he  was  by  con/ 
ditions  ripe  for  war,  Rodney  appears  to  have  used  a  firm 
and  strong  hand  in  the  interests  of  peace.  His  letter,  sent 
by  a  fi-igate  to  the  Governor  of  Cartagena  after  two  Span/ 


LORD  RODNEY  167 

ish  guarda^costas  had  overhauled  and  taken  into  Carta/ 
gena  harbour  the  British  man-'otwar  **  Hawke,"  is  worthy 
of  quotation,  as  illustrating  both  the  temper  of  the  times 
and  the  discretion  with  which  Rodney  dealt  with  a  most 
difficult  situation: 

"  Princess  Amelia,  Jamaica, 
** September  3d,  1771. 

"  To  the  Governor  of  Carthagena. 
**  I  have  the  honour  to  acquaint  your  Excellency,  that 
"  his  Britanic  Majesty  has  been  pleased  to  confer  on  me 
**  the  command  of  his  squadron  on  this  station,  and  to  as/ 
**  sure  you  that  while  I  am  protecting  his  Majesty's  terri/ 
*«tories,  and  the  trade  of  his  subjects,  I  shall  be  truly 
**  solicitous  to  maintain  a  friendly  correspondence  with 
"your  Excellency,  and  with  the  rest  of  his  Catholic 
•«  Majesty's  governors  in  America. 

"  With  such  a  disposition,  judge,  Sir,  what  must  have 
"been  my  astonishment  to  hear,  on  my  arrival,  that  two 
"guarda/costas,  under  the  pretended  sanction  of  your 
"  Excellency's  and  the  Commodore's  orders,  had  forced 
•*his  Majesty's  schooner,  the  Hawke,  into  Carthagena, 
"after  they  were  told,  and  knew  whose  commission  the 
"  commander  of  her  had  the  honour  to  bear. 

"  I  am  moreover  informed,  that  one  of  the  Commo/ 
"dore's  lieutenants,  acquainted  the  commander  of  the 
"schooner,  on  her  dismission  from  the  port  of  Cartha/ 
"gena,  that  she  might  go,  but  that  if  either  the  schooner. 


i68      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

<*or  any  other  of  his  Britanic  Majesty's  ships  were  after/ 
<*  wards  found  within  twelve  leagues  of  that  coast,  they 
"  should  be  taken  and  their  crews  imprisoned. 

"  As  your  Excellency,  I  doubt  not,  is  equally  disposed 
**  with  myself  to  support  the  harmony  which  so  happily 
**  subsists  between  the  two  crowns,  I  cannot  be  persuaded 
"  that  you  have  given  the  least  countenance  to  these  acts 
«*  of  violence. 

**  The  officer  who  had  dishonoured  his  King's  colours 
"  by  a  tame  submission  to  this  insult  has  been  already  dis/ 
**  missed  the  service;  and  I  have  the  fullest  confidence 
"  that  your  Excellency  will,  on  your  part,  immediately 
**  order  the  officers  that  have  treated  with  such  indignity 
**  the  British  flag  to  be  called  to  the  strictest  account,  and 
*<  confirm  the  opinion  I  would  willingly  entertain  of  the 
**  impossibility  of  such  a  menace  being  sent  by  the  Com/ 
*'modore,  or  any  officer  of  rank,  who  wishes  to  preserve 
**the  general  tranquillity. 

**  I  have  ordered  the  captain  by  whom  I  send  this  to 
"wait  your  Excellency's  answer." 

In  1774,  when  Rodney's  appointment  expired,  he  en/ 
deavoured  unsuccessfolly  to  get  the  appointment  as  Gov/ 
ernor  of  Jamaica  or  of  some  other  colony.  Upon  his 
return  to  England  in  September  of  that  year,  financial 
troubles,  from  which  his  service  had  temporarily  freed 
him,  began  again.  To  escape  these  embarrassments  he 


LORD  RODNEY  169 

took  up  his  residence  in  France,  to  await  a  time  when 
renewed  employment  would  enable  him  to  meet  his  cred/ 
itors.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  almost  continued  dis/ 
tressed  condition  of  his  personal  affairs,  accounts  to  some* 
extent  for  the  opposition  which  from  time  to  time  in  his 
career  met  his  efforts  for  advancement,  in  spite  of  his  ad^ 
mittedly  high  professional  ability.  Until  early  in  1778, 
Rodney  remained  in  France,  fretting  under  the  lack  of 
recognition,  when  Howe  was  sent  to  America  in  1776, 
and  later,  when  with  war  under  way  with  the  American 
colonies,  his  juniors  were  sent  out  in  command  of  the 
North/ American  and  West/Indian  stations.  The  condi/ 
tions,  however,  soon  made  his  employment  almost  a  ne/ 
cessity.  Through  the  kindly  aid  of  a  French  gentleman 
who  had  become  his  friend,  and  with  the  help  of  friends 
in  England,  his  debts  were  adjusted,*  and  on  the  first  of 
October,  1779,  he  was  again  appointed  to  the  command 
of  the  Leeward  Islands  station.  War  with  the  American 
colonies  had  begun  in  1 776,  the  French  had  declared  war 
in  1778,  and  Spain  in  1779.  In  the  West  Indies,  Grenada 
had  been  lost  to  the  British.  The  task  to  which  Rodney 
was  put  was  therefore  not  an  easy  one. 

*  L*amiral  Rodney  s'y  trouvait  alors  retenu  pour  des  dettes  qu'il  ne 
pouvait  solder.  Un  jour  qu'il  dlnait  chez  le  Marechal  de  Biron,  il  traita  avec 
dedain  les  succes  des  marins  fran^ais,  disant  que  sMl  etait  libre,  il  en  aurait 
bicntot  raison.  Le  Marechal  paya  aussitot  ses  dettes:  "partez,  Monsieur," 
lui  dit-il  J  "allez  essayer  de  remplir  vos  prom  esses ;  les  Fran^ais  ne  veulent 
<*  pas  se  prevaloir  des  obstacles  qui  vous  empechent  de  les  accomplir." — 
V.  Duruy's  Hutoire  de  France, 


170       ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

On  the  twenty /ninth  of  December,  1779,  he  sailed 
from  Plymouth  with  twenty/one  ships/of/the/line,  a  small 
portion  only  of  which  was  to  continue  with  him  to  the 
West  Indies,  the  bulk  of  the  force  being  assigned  to  him 
for  the  purpose  of  attempting  the  relief  of  Gibraltar,  the 
long  siege  of  which  had  then  begun.  With  the  fleet  were 
the  usual  proportion  of  frigates  and  a  large  number  of 
store  and  troop  ships,  as  well  as  merchantmen,  many  of 
the  latter  being  bound  for  the  West  Indies  and  parting 
company  with  the  fleet  about  a  week  after  it  sailed.  The 
good  fortune  which  Rodney  needed  in  order  to  create 
anew  the  enthusiasm  which  his  successes  had  gained  for 
him  in  the  previous  war,  by  a  happy  chance  came  quickly. 
On  the  eighth  of  January,  1780,  a  Spanish  convoy  of 
twenty /two  sail  was  sighted,  and  found  to  be  made  up 
of  seven  ships/of /war  and  the  remainder  merchantmen 
loaded  with  naval  stores  and  provisions.  Admiral  Rodney 
at  once  gave  chase  and  the  whole  were  taken.  The  seven 
ships/of /war  carried  a  total  of  two  hundred  and  six  guns 
and  twelve  hundred  and  ninety/three  men,  the  largest 
being  the  **Guipuscuano,"  of  sixty/four  guns  and  five 
hundred  and  fifty  men.  Twelve  of  the  convoy,  loaded 
with  flour  and  wheat,  were  sent  on  with  the  other  Brit/ 
ish  ships  to  carry  provisions  to  the  garrison  at  Gibraltar. 
The  balance,  containing  naval  stores,  were  despatched 
under  convoy  to  England.  The  "Guipuscuano"  was 
commissioned,  officered,  manned,  and  named  the  **  Prince 


LORD  RODNEY  171 

«  William,"  in  honour  of  the  Prince  (afterwards  King  Wil/ 
liam  IV)  who  was  a  midshipman  with  the  fleet. 

Intelligence  that  a  Spanish  squadron,  said  to  consist 
of  fourteen  ships/of/the/line,  was  cruising  oiFCape  St.  Vin/ 
cent,  had  reached  Admiral  Rodney,  and  by  his  orders  the 
fleet  kept  in  readiness  for  battle  as  the  Cape  was  ap/ 
proached.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  sixteenth  of  January, 
a  few  hours  after  passing  the  Cape,  the  Spanish  fleet  was 
sighted  in  the  south/east  quarter.  Owing  to  the  lateness 
of  the  day  and  the  necessity  for  prompt  action,  Rodney 
gave  up  what  had  been  his  first  intention  to  form  a 
line  of  battle  abreast,  and  made  the  signal  for  a  general 
chase.  At  four  o'clock  the  enemy  were  engaged;  within 
less  than  an  hour  the  magazines  of  one  of  the  Spanish 
line/of/battle  ships  were  exploded,  destroying  the  ship, 
and  at  six  one  of  their  ships  struck.  The  engagement 
continued  until  two  o'clock  the  next  morning.  The  tem/ 
pestuous  weather  and  nearness  of  a  dangerous  lee  shore 
prevented  the  continuance  of  the  engagement,  and  six  of 
the  Spanish  ships  escaped,  several  in  badly  damaged  con/ 
dition.  Four  of  the  ships,  carrying  seventy  to  eighty  guns, 
were  taken  and  sent  into  Gibraltar ;  two  others  struck, 
but  were  lost  on  the  shoals ;  one  was  blown  up  in  action. 

Within  less  than  three  weeks  of  leaving  England, 
Rodney,  by  good  fortune  and  efficient  work,  had,  as  Lord 
Sandwich  in  his  letter  of  congratulation  to  him  wrote, 
"taken  more  line/of /battle  ships  than  had  been  cap/ 


172      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN^ 

"  tured  in  any  one  action  in  either  of  the  two  last  preced/ 
**  ing  wars."  The  thanks  of  both  Houses  of  Parliament 
were  voted  to  Admiral  Rodney,  the  motion  in  the  House 
of  Lords  being  made  by  Lord  Sandwich  himself,  who 
continued  as  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  February,  Rodney  left  Gibraltar 
for  the  West  Indies,  sailing  with  his  fleet  directly  for 
Barbadoes.  At  this  time  the  French  had  a  strong  fleet  at 
Fort  Royal  Bay,  Martinique,  under  the  command  of  one 
of  their  most  able  commanders.  Admiral  de  Guichen. 
The  movements  of  this  fleet  were  closely  watched  by  ships 
stationed  by  Rodney  for  the  purpose,  and  when,  on  the 
fifteenth  of  April,  de  Guichen  sailed  from  Martinique 
with  a  convoy  bound  for  Santo  Domingo,  Rodney  fol/ 
lowed  instantly  with  his  fleet,  which  he  had  kept  ready 
to  pursue  or  engage  the  French  fleet.  Late  on  the  six/ 
teenth,  the  fleets  were  within  sight  of  one  another.  The 
fleet  under  de  Guichen  consisted  of  twenty/three  ships/of/ 
the/line,  having  a  total  of  fifteen  hundred  and  fifty  guns, 
six  frigates,  one  lugger,  and  a  cutter.  Rodney  had  under 
his  command  twenty  ships/of'the/line,  having  a  total  of 
thirteen  hundred  and  ninety  guns,  and  five  frigates.  On 
the  seventeenth,  the  two  fleets  were  in  approximately 
parallel  lines,  headed  in  opposite  directions,  with  the 
British  in  the  windward  position.  Both  commanders  were 
possessed  of  high  tactical  skill,  and  the  record  of  the  pro/ 
longed  engagement  of  these  two  fleets  is  of  greater  tech/ 


LORD  RODNEY  173 

nical  than  historical  interest.  Rodney's  intention  is  clearly 
described  in  the  words  of  his  own  report:  <*  At  forty/six 
"minutes  after  six  I  gave  notice  that  intention  was  to  at/ 
"  tack  the  enemy's  rear  with  my  whole  force,  which  sig/ 
"nal  was  answered  by  every  ship  in  the  fleet."  Appar/ 
ently  this  intention  was  discovered  by  de  Guichen  in 
time  to  permit  him  to  strengthen  his  threatened  rear, 
and  the  resulting  engagement  by  a  change  in  orderg 
became  more  nearly  a  "ship/to^ship"  battle.  Owing  to 
an  unfortunate  misunderstanding  of  the  orders  given, 
a  number  of  the  ships  of  Rodney's  fleet,  by  attacking 
the  wrong  vessels  of  the  French  fleet,  extended  and 
weakened  the  British  line,  instead  of  concentrating  it  as 
Rodney  had  carefully  planned.  This  failure  to  properly 
interpret  and  obey  his  instructions  brought  upon  the 
offenders  the  most  severe  treatment  by  the  Admiral, 
whose  indignation  is  fittingly  expressed  in  the  words 
of  his  despatch  to  the  Admiralty:  "It  is  with  con/ 
"cern  inexpressible,  mixed  with  indignation,  that  the 
"duty  I  owe  my  Sovereign  and  country  obliges  me  to 
"  acquaint  their  Lordships  that,  during  the  action  with 
"  the  French  fleet  on  the  17th  instant,  and  his  Majesty's, 
"  the  British  flag  was  not  properly  supported."  The  crit/ 
ics  of  Rodney  blame  him  for  making  his  intentions  clear. 
Notwithstanding  that  the  hoped-for  results  were  not 
obtained  in  this  action,  Rodney  had  personally  shown  the 
greatest  skill  and  courage,  and  had  the  satisfaction  to  know 


174      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

that  he  had  badly  damaged  a  French  fleet  his  superior 
in  strength,  and  whose  gallant  commander,  having  been 
obliged  to  adopt  defensive  rather  than  offensive  tactics, 
had,  after  being  pursued  for  three  days,  taken  refuge  at 
Guadeloupe.  Of  Admiral  de  Guichen,  Rodney  reports 
**that  the  French  Admiral,  w^ho  appeared  to  me  to  be  a 
**  brave  and  gallant  officer,  had  the  honour  to  be  nobly 
**  supported  during  the  whole  action." 

Expecting  that  the  French  fleet  would  attempt  to  re/ 
gain  Martinique,  Admiral  Rodney  kept  a  close  watch 
upon  its  movements,  with  a  view  of  intercepting  it  and 
forcing  another  engagement.  On  the  nineteenth  of  May, 
both  of  the  fleets  were  again  at  sea  and  in  sight  of  one 
another.  That  the  French  admiral  endeavoured  to  avoid 
action  was  due  not  to  a  lack  of  courage ,  but  to  the  instruct 
tions  from  his  Government,  which  clearly  directed  him 
not  to  compromise  the  safety  of  his  fleet.  From  the  ninth 
to  the  twenty/second,  the  two  fleets  manoeuvred  at  vary/ 
ing  distances,  the  French  ships  being  aided  in  their  defen/ 
sive  tactics  by  superior  speed.  During  this  prolonged  pe/ 
riod  of  sustained  exertion  and  vigilance,  advantage  was 
taken  of  every  possible  opportunity  for  a  successful  attack, 
but  with  the  exception  of  partial  engagements  on  the 
fifteenth  to  nineteenth.  Admiral  de  Guichen  was  able  to 
skilfully  elude  the  attempts.  On  the  fifteenth,  consider/ 
able  damage  was  done  to  the  rear  of  the  French  fleet  by 
the  van  of  the  British  fleet,  and  on  the  nineteenth,  dam/ 


LORD  RODNEY  175 

age  was  again  inflicted.  On  the  twenty/first,  the  French 
fleet  finally  escaped  and  in  somewhat  shattered  condition 
reached  Martinique.  Rodney  proceeded  to  Barbadoes  to 
land  his  wounded  and  to  repair  his  damaged  ships. 

At  this  time  he  received  intelligence  of  the  sailing  of 
a  Spanish  fleet  of  about  twenty  ships/of/the/line  from  Cadiz 
on  the  twenty  ^eighth  of  April,  and  stationed  a  line  of 
frigates  to  windward  to  give  timely  notice  of  its  approach. 
Early  in  May  (1780),  a  Spanish  fleet  of  some  two  hun^ 
dred  sail  was  reported  to  be  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  to  windward  of  Martinique.  Rodney,  although  im^ 
mediately  setting  sail,  succeeded  in  sighting  three  ships 
only,  two  of  which  being  taken  proved  to  be  part  of  the 
convoy  from  Cadiz,  one  with  goods  and  the  other  with 
troops.  The  Spanish  fleet,  with  the  remainder  of  its  large 
convoy,  had  successfully  passed  to  leeward. 

Rodney  was  now  troubled  by  the  probability  of  the 
French  and  Spanish  fleets  forming  a  junction,  which  was 
in  fact  accomplished  in  July  (1780).  He  had  been  disap-' 
pointed  in  not  receiving  expected  re^enforcements  from 
the  American  station,  and  his  own  fleet  could  not  safely 
attempt  to  cover  the  whole  West  "Indian  waters.  Before 
leaving  England,  Rodney  had  arranged  with  Lord  Sand/ 
wich  that  during  the  winter  months  the  fleet  under  Ad" 
miral  Arbuthnot,  operating  against  the  rebellious  Amer" 
ican  colonies,  should  join  the  West/Indian  fleet,  and  that 
later,  when  the  hurricane  season  made  the  West  Indies 


176      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

unsafe,  the  combined  fleet  should  work  together  in  Amer/ 
ican  waters.  Owing  to  a  disaster  to  the  vessel  carrying  the 
despatches  to  Arbuthnot,  the  orders  were  received  by  him 
too  late. 

Expecting  that  de  Guichen  would  endeavour  to  join 
the  French  fleet  under  de  Ternay,  which  had  been  sent 
by  France  to  the  aid  of  the  American  colonists,  Rodney 
again  had  the  courage  to  construe  his  duty  to  be  to  protect 
the  King's  interests  wherever  occasion  demanded.  He 
arranged  as  best  he  could  for  the  security  of  his  own  sta/ 
tion,  and  proceeded  with  a  good  portion  of  his  fleet  to 
New  York,  where  he  arrived  off  Sandy  Hook  the  four/ 
teenth  of  September,  1780.  With  the  incidents  of  this 
visit  to  American  waters,  which  were  not  particularly 
eventful,  it  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  account  to  deal,  as 
the  expedition  had  little  bearing  on  events  in  the  Carib/ 
bean  Sea.  Rodney,  as  his  superior  in  command,  was  not 
welcomed  by  Arbuthnot,  but  Rodney  appears  to  have 
borne  himself  with  his  customary  dignity,  and  to  have 
exercised  his  authority  in  more  than  a  nominal  capacity. 
Beyond  the  frequent  capture  of  privateers,  little  of  conse/ 
quence  was  accomplished  by  Rodney's  fleet  by  this  visit 
to  American  waters.  The  French  fleet  at  Newport  it  was 
not  found  expedient  to  attack  at  that  place,  and  de  Gui/ 
chenhad  returned  directly  to  France  instead  of  joining  de 
Ternay  in  America.  In  December,  1 780,  Rodney  returned 
to  the  West  Indies  with  a  fleet  of  fifteen  ships,  in  time  to 


LORD  RODNEY  177 

be  of  help  to  the  islands,  which  were  suffering  from  the 
effects  of  a  disastrous  hurricane. 

At  this  time  the  united  forces  of  France,  Spain,  and 
America,  against  which  Great  Britain  was  contending, 
received  the  tacit  support  of  a  formidable  confederacy, 
called  the  "Armed  Neutrality,"  which  included  Russia, 
Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Holland.  Of  these  countries  Hoi/ 
land  in  particular  gave  encouragement  to  the  American 
colonies  and  offence  to  Great  Britain  when,  in  the  words 
of  Lord  North,  its  Government  **  suffered  Paul  Jones,  a 
"Scotchman  and  a  pirate,  acting  without  any  legal  au/ 
"thority  from  any  acknowledged  government,  to  bring 
"  British  ships  into  their  ports  and  to  refit  there."  The  cap/ 
ture  of  an  American  packet,  the  "  Mercury,"  having  on 
board  an  agent  of  the  American  Congress  on  an  embassy  to 
Holland,  with  the  draft  of  a  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce 
between  the  two  republics,  brought  the  already  strained 
relations  to  the  breaking  point,  and  war  was  declared  by 
Great  Britain  against  Holland.  Despatches  notifying  him 
of  this  reached  Rodney  on  the  twenty/seventh  of  January, 
178 1,  at  Barbadoes,  and  ordered  him  to  at  once  attack  the 
Dutch  West  Indies  and  shipping.  The  Dutch  and  other 
merchants  of  St.  Eustatius  and  St.  Martin  had  profited 
largely  by  the  trade  made  possible  by  their  position  of 
neutrality,  and  these  islands  had  become  a  storehouse  for 
the  accumulation  of  the  goods  of  the  traders  of  all  na/ 
tionalities.  In  the  instructions  sent  out  to  Rodney,  the 


178       ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

object  of  attack  first  designated  was  St.  Eustatius,  and  not 
a  moment's  time  was  lost  by  the  Admiral  and  General 
Vaughan  in  putting  the  command  into  execution.  On.  the 
thirtieth  of  January,  the  British  fleet  sailed  from  Santa 
Lucia  to  attack  St.  Eustatius,  leaving  a  squadron  under 
Rear/ Admiral  Drake  to  watch  the  small  squadron  of 
French  ships  still  remaining  in  the  Bay  of  Fort  Royal, 
Martinique.  In  January,  Rodney  had  been  re/enforced  by 
a  squadron  of  eight  ships^-of/the^line  under  Rear/ Admiral 
Sir  Samuel  Hood,  who  had  been  sent  out  to  serve  as  his  sec/ 
ond  in  command,  and  this  squadron  was  sent  to  surround 
the  bay  of  St.  Eustatius  to  prevent  the  escape  of  any  vessels 
from  the  port.  On  the  third  of  February,  Rodney,  with 
the  remainder  of  the  fleet  and  the  troops  under  General 
Vaughan,  arrived  in  the  bay.  Having  made  this  display 
of  force,  the  Admiral  and  General  joined  in  a  summons 
for  the  **  instant  surrender  of  the  Island  of  St.  Eustatius 
"  and  its  dependencies,  with  everything  in  and  belonging 
**  thereto."  The  Dutch  Governor  at  once  complied  with 
the  demand,  which  was  shortly  followed  by  the  uncon/ 
ditional  surrender  of  the  islands  of  St.  Martin  and  Saba. 

The  value  of  this  capture  was  enormous ;  upwards  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  ships  of  all  classes  were  taken,  in/ 
eluding  one  man/of/war  of  thirty/eight  guns  and  three 
hundred  men,  and  five  of  from  fourteen  to  twenty/six 
guns  each,  all  equipped  and  ready  for  immediate  service. 
The  capture  was  followed  by  the  seizure  of  several  addi/ 


LORD  RODNEY  179 

tional  ships  outward-bound  with  naval  stores,  and  by  the 
capture  of  a  Dutch  convoy  of  some  thirty  richly  laden 
merchant  ships,  which  had  left  St.  Eustatius  a  day  or 
two  before  its  surrender.  This  convoy  alone  was  valued 
at  more  than  half  a  million  sterling,  and  the  value  of  the 
whole  property  seized  was  estimated  by  Rodney  at  be/ 
tween  two  and  three  millions  sterling. 

Attacks  upon  the  island  of  Cura9ao  and  upon  Surinam 
were  now  planned,  but  owing  to  intelligence,  which 
subsequently  proved  to  be  erroneous,  that  a  French  squad/ 
ron  of  eight  or  ten  ships/of/the/line  were  headed  for  the 
Caribbean  Sea,  a  change  of  plans  was  made  expedient, 
and  the  attacks  were  not  made.  During  the  early  part  of 
March,  however,  the  Dutch  colonies  of  Demerara  and 
Essequibo  surrendered,  together  with  the  French  island 
of  St.  Bartholomew.  All  the  Leeward  Islands  thus  passed 
into  British  hands. 

To  meet  this  reported  French  fleet  Rodney  detached 
Rear/ Admiral  Hood  with  seventeen  ships^of/the/line  to 
watch  for  the  enemy  to  windward  of  Martinique,  a 
position  which  at  the  end  of  a  month,  contrary  to  the 
advice  of  Hood,  he  ordered  changed  to  the  leeward  of 
the  island,  in  order  to  blockade  Fort  Royal  harbour,  in 
which  were  still  four  French  ships/of^the/line.  The  ex/ 
pected  French  fleet  never  arrived,  but  on  the  twenty/ 
second  of  March  ( 1 7  8 1 ) ,  more  than  five  weeks  after  Hood 
had  begun  his  wearisome  watching,  a  French  fleet  of 


i8o      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

twenty  ships/of/the/line  did  actually  sail  from  Brest  for 
Martinique,  under  Admiral  the  Comte  de  Grasse.  On 
the  twenty^eighth  of  April,  Hood  sighted  this  fleet ;  but  on 
account  of  his  position  to  leeward  he  was  unable  to  prevent 
the  junction  with  it  of  the  four  ships  from  Fort  Royal, 
which  made  the  total  strength  of  de  Grasse  twenty/four 
ships/of ''the^line.  Against  this  formidable  fleet  were  but 
eighteen  ships  under  Hood,  the  French  fleet  also  having 
the  advantage  of  the  weather^gage. 

Either  from  fear  for  the  safety  of  his  convoy,  which 
was  large,  or  for  some  other  unaccountable  reason,  de 
Grasse  did  not  make  the  most  of  his  advantageous  posi/ 
tion  to  force  an  engagement,  and  Hood,  having  good 
reason  to  believe  an  engagement  unwise,  successfully 
withdrew  his  squadron,  and  joined  Rodney  on  the  elev/ 
enth  of  May,  near  Antigua. 

Rodney  has  been  blamed  for  the  apparent  tactical 
blunder  in  not  having  had  his  fleet  concentrated  under 
his  own  personal  command  in  a  good  strategic  position 
to  have  met  de  Grasse  with  sufficient  force  upon  his  ar/ 
rival.  It  is  diflScult,  however,  to  criticise  justly  acts  which 
were  governed  by  so  many  doubtful  factors  at  the  time. 
Rodney  believed  it  of  paramount  importance  to  guard 
from  attack  the  captures  he  had  already  made,  the  ma^ 
terial  value  of  which  undoubtedly  weighed  too  heavily 
in  his  judgment.  As  it  turned  out,  the  course  he  pursued 
made  impossible  a  successful  attack  upon  de  Grasse.  That 


LORD  RODNEY  181 

it  was  of  greater  importance  to  destroy  the  efficiency  of 
the  French  fleet  than  to  preserve  the  booty  gained  in  the 
previous  engagements,  was  not  fully  realized  by  Rodney. 
If  the  subsequent  operations  of  de  Grasse  upon  the  Amer/ 
ican  coast  had  been  rendered  impossible,  even  the  sur/ 
render  of  Cornwallis  might  not  so  soon  have  taken  place. 

De  Grasse  made  an  attack  upon  Santa  Lucia,  but  failed, 
and  shortly  afterwards  proceeded  to  Tobago,  to  which 
British  island  he  had  already  sent  a  small  squadron.  Rod/ 
ney,  not  knowing  that  de  Grasse  had  followed  with  his 
whole  fleet  to  Tobago,  had  sent  for  the  defence  of  that  place 
six  ships  only  under  Rear/ Admiral  Drake.  In  the  mean/ 
time  Rodney  had  collected  his  fleet  at  Barbadoes,  and  re/ 
ceived  intelligence  there  of  the  movement  of  the  French 
fleet  in  time  to  arrive  oflf"  Tobago  on  the  fifth  of  June, 
three  days  after  the  island  had  surrendered  to  de  Grasse. 
Early  in  July,  de  Grasse,  having  continued  to  successfuUy 
elude  the  British  fleet,  sailed  for  Haiti,  at  which  place  he 
planned  to  organize  his  expedition  to  the  American  coast 
to  co/operate  with  the  army  under  General  Washington. 
He  was  closely  followed  by  a  squadron  despatched  by 
Rodney  under  Hood,  which  it  was  expected  would  be 
re/enforced  by  ships  from  Jamaica.  De  Grasse,  however, 
made  no  long  delay  before  sailing  with  his  whole  fleet  for 
North  America,  and  displaying  his  customary  adroitness 
left  the  West  Indies. 

Having  obtained  permission,  on  account  of  the  state 


i82      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

of  his  health,  to  return  for  a  brief  visit  to  England,  Rod/ 
ney  gave  orders  to  Hood  for  the  emplo)mient  of  the  Brit/ 
ish  fleet  on  the  North/ American  station  during  the  hur/ 
ricane  months,  and  sailed  for  England  with  a  small 
detachment  and  convoy  of  some  one  hundred  and  fifty 
sail,  arriving  on  the  nineteenth  of  September,  1 78 1 .  Hav/ 
ing  to  some  extent  re/established  his  health  by  a  sojourn 
at  Bath,  he  received  commands  in  November  to  return  to 
the  West  Indies,  this  time  as  Commander/in/Chief  of  the 
whole  West/Indian  station.  At  the  same  time  he  was  pro/ 
moted  to  the  high  dignity  of  Vice/ Admiral  of  Great  Brit/ 
ain,  succeeding  Lord  Hawke,  who  died  on  the  seven/ 
teenth  of  October,  1781. 

A  considerable  portion  of  his  time  before  sailing  early 
in  January,  1782,  was  given  up  to  the  defence  by  him 
of  charges  made  in  the  House  of  Commons  relative  to 
alleged  improper  seizure  of  goods  at  St.  Eustatius.  These 
charges  chiefly  arose  from  the  confiscation  of  goods  be/ 
longing,  or  purporting  to  belong,  to  Englishmen  residing 
on  the  island  at  the  time  of  its  capture.  The  taking  of 
the  goods  was  justified  by  Rodney  on  the  ground  of  the 
illegal  or  contraband  nature  of  the  trade  in  which  the 
owners  had  been  engaged.  He  also  found  it  necessary  to 
explain  the  causes  which  led  to  the  apparent  inactivity 
of  his  forces  during  the  operations  of  the  fleet  under  de 
Grasse,  regarding  which  inactivity  charges  were  also  made 
in  the  House  of  Commons.  That  he  still  retained  the 


LORD  RODNEY  183 

confidence  of  the  King  and  Admiralty  is  evident  from  his 
appointment  to  a  larger  area  of  command  and  to  an  in^ 
crease  in  naval  rank.  In  a  final  note  sent  to  him  just  be/ 
fore  his  departure,  the  Earl  of  Sandv^ich  v^rote,  "The 
**fate  of  the  empire  is  in  your  hands,  and  I  have  no  rea/ 
"son  to  wish  that  it  should  be  in  any  other.*' 

Advices  that  the  Comte  de  Grasse,  after  a  drawn  battle 
with  the  British  fleet  off  the  mouth  of  the  Chesapeake 
and  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis,  had  sailed  with  his  whole 
fleet  to  the  West  Indies,  hurried  the  preparations  of  Rod/ 
ney ,  who  promised  to  bring  *  *  back  a  present  of  de  Grasse  " 
to  the  British  nation. 

With  the  squadron  he  had  brought  out  from  England 
he  arrived  at  Barbadoes  on  the  nineteenth  of  February, 
1 782,  to  find  a  troubled  situation  which  required  the  full/ 
est  exercise  of  his  high  abilities.  Before  the  return  of 
Hood  from  the  north,  St.  Eustatius  had  been  recaptured 
by  two  French  frigates  with  about  three  hundred  men. 
The  British  garrison  at  St.  Kitts  was  besieged  and  capitu/ 
lated  six  days  before  his  arrival.  The  large  French  fleet 
under  deGrasse,  of  some  thirty/three  ships/of/the/line,was 
held  back  only  by  the  superior  tactical  ability  of  Hood,  the 
strength  of  whose  squadron  was  scarcely  two/thirds  that 
of  the  French  fleet.  Rodney  proceeded  to  Antigua  and 
arranged  a  junction  there,  on  the  twenty/fifth  of  Febru/ 
ary,  of  his  squadron  with  that  of  Hood,  sailing  with  the 
united  fleet  to  Santa  Lucia,  where  he  arrived  on  the  fifth 


i84       ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

of  March.  After  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  intercept  a 
fleet  of  supply  ships  intended  for  de  Grasse,  Rodney  col/ 
lected  his  fleet  at  Gros  Ilet  Bay,  Santa  Lucia,  not  more 
than  thirty  miles  from  the  French  fleet,  which  had 
reached  and  anchored  at  Fort  Royal  Bay  without  Rodney 
being  able  to  bring  them  to  action.  At  this  time  the  situ/ 
ation  was  further  complicated  by  the  presence  of  a  squad/ 
ron  of  American  privateers  which  threatened  the  island 
of  Tortola,  for  the  protection  of  which  Rodney  de/ 
spatched  four  frigates.  He  also  detached  a  small  squadron 
to  attempt  the  recapture  of  Montserrat,  which  island  had 
been  taken  by  the  French. 

The  purpose  of  de  Grasse,  who,  in  addition  to  his  large 
fleet  of  ships/of /the/line,  had  a  very  considerable  convoy 
of  troop/ships  with  over  five  thousand  troops  on  board, 
ammunition  vessels,  &c.,  was  to  join  a  Spanish  fleet  at 
Cap  Francois  (now  Cape  Haitien),  Hispaniola.  The  com/ 
bined  fleets,  with  the  troops  and  artillery,  were  expected 
to  form  a  sufficiently  strong  force  to  make  the  capture  of 
Jamaica  possible.  To  prevent  the  carrying  out  of  this  plan, 
Rodney  exerted  to  the  fullest  his  great  capacity  and  skill. 
By  a  chain  of  frigates  within  signalling  distance  of  one 
another,  he  kept  himself  in  touch  with  the  movements 
of  the  French  fleet  at  Fort  Royal  Bay.  On  the  morning 
of  the  eighth  of  April,  de  Grasse  sailed  with  thirty/five 
ships/of /the/line,  followed  at  once  by  the  British  fleet  of 
thirty/six  ships/of/the/line.  At  nightfall,  Rodney  had  the 


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:y  and  de  grasse  on  the  i  2Th  APRIL,  1 782 

ntemporary  records 


LORD  RODNEY  185 

French  ships  in  sight,  and  at  daybreak  on  the  ninth  the 
greater  part  of  the  fleet  were  visible  from  the  decks  of 
the  British  ships.  De  Grasse,  finding  it  impossible  to  avoid 
an  action  by  superior  speed  while  handicapped  by  his 
convoy,  signalled  it  to  put  into  Guadeloupe,  which  order 
was  promptly  obeyed.  The  British  fleet  was  too  close, 
however,  for  de  Grasse  to  evade  an  engagement,  and  on 
the  ninth  several  skirmishes  took  place  between  the 
French  rear  and  the  British  van.  On  the  tenth  and  eleventh, 
the  pursuit  continued,  a  badly  managed  or  slow  ship  from 
the  French  fleet  from  time  to  time  dropping  back. 

Early  on  the  twelfth,  the  flag/ship  of  de  Grasse  collided 
with  one  of  the  largest  of  his  ships/of/the^line,  the  **  Zele," 
damaging  the  latter  to  an  extent  which  made  it  necessary 
to  send  it  into  Guadeloupe  under  tow  of  a  frigate.  De 
Grasse  had  taken  his  fleet  into  the  passage  between  Do/ 
minica  and  Guadeloupe,  which  required  the  ships  to 
beat  to  windward.  Hood,  being  signalled  by  Rodney  to 
pursue  the  **  Zele,"  did  so,  which  served  to  draw  de 
Grasse  hastily  to  her  support,  signalling  his  fleet  to  form 
line-'of /battle.  The  two  fleets  shortly  passed  each  other  in 
approximately  parallel  lines  in  opposite  directions,  the 
French  fleet  to  windward,  and  the  conditions  unfavour/ 
able  for  Rodney  to  force  a  close  action.  A  fortunate  shift 
of  the  wind  from  the  east  to  the  south/east  served  to 
weaken  the  French  formation,  and  enabled  the  British 
ships  to  stand  in  to  the  French  line.  This  was  effectually 


i86      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

done,  Rodney  in  his  flag/ship  the  **  Formidable/*  followed 
by  a  portion  of  his  fleet,  breaking  through  about  the  mid/ 
die  of  de  Grasse's  line,  separating  his  fleet  into  several 
groups  and  putting  the  main  body  of  the  British  fleet  to 
windward.  Feeble  breezes  and  calms  during  the  rest  of 
the  day  gave  added  advantage  to  the  windward  position 
obtained  by  Rodney.  At  nightfall  the  **Ville  de  Paris," 
the  flag^ship  of  de  Grasse,  struck.  To  this  capture  Hood, 
who  found  fault  with  the  failure  of  Rodney  to  reap  the 
full  benefit  of  his  advantageous  position,  attributes  the 
lack  of  taking  other  ships,  as  he  charges  Rodney  with 
having  been  so  overcome  with  delight  at  the  capture  of 
the  flag^ship,  that  he  let  the  chance  slip  by  of  taking  **  a 
**  dozen  better  ships  in  lieu  of  her." 

In  an  account  of  this  battle  written  by  Sir  Gilbert 
Blane,  physician  to  the  fleet,  the  loss  upon  the  British  side 
was  reported  to  be  two  hundred  and  sixty^one  killed,  and 
eight  hundred  and  thirty^seven  wounded.  In  addition  to 
the  **Ville  de  Paris,"  flag/ship,  of  one  hundred  and  six 
guns  and  thirteen  hundred  men,  some  six  other  smaller 
ships  were  taken  or  destroyed.  The  **Ville  de  Paris" 
alone  was  reported  to  have  had  over  three  hundred  killed 
and  wounded  men.  The  total  number  in  the  ship?  lost  to 
the  French,  which  included  five  of  from  sixty^four 
to  seventy/four  guns,  must  have  been  a  number  of 
thousands. 

The  defeated  French  fleet  was  scattered  and  disabled. 


LORD  RODNEY  187 

but  owing  to  lack  of  a  continuous  and  sustained  attack 
by  the  British  ships,  managed  to  escape,  and  in  part  pro^ 
ceeded  toward  Cap  Franfois,  where  finally  some  nine/ 
teen  ships  came  together.  The  remainder  in  due  course 
reached  Curasao. 

In  spite  of  the  failure  to  secure  the  full  success  which 
appears  to  have  been  so  readily  within  his  grasp,  Rod/ 
ney's  victory  was  far/reaching  in  its  results.  In  its  influx 
ence  on  the  course  of  events  it  was  the  greatest  of  any 
naval  battle  of  the  war,  and  it  was  possibly  due  to  a  per/ 
ception  of  this  that  made  Rodney  content  with  a  defi/ 
nite  victory  and  shrink  from  the  risk  of  a  possible  later 
reverse. 

The  reports  of  the  battle  reached  England  at  a  good 
time.  The  promptness  with  which  the  French  fleet  was 
followed  from  Fort  Royal  Bay,  and  the  brilliancy  of  the 
first  attack,  together  with  the  capture  of  the  enemy's 
flag/ship  and  the  Comte  de  Grasse,  won  great  credit  for 
Rodney,  although  subsequently  the  events  were  the  basis 
of  an  active  controversy.  He  was  voted  the  thanks  of 
Parliament,  with  an  additional  pension  of  two  thousand 
pounds  per  annum,  and  made  a  peer  by  the  King. 

Although  not  actually  destroyed,  the  French  fleet  was 
no  longer  to  be  feared,  and  Jamaica  was  saved.  To  that 
island  Rodney  repaired  with  his  prizes  to  refit  his  ships. 
The  Comte  de  Grasse  was  taken  to  Jamaica,  and  from 
there  on  the  nineteenth  of  May  despatched  to  England 


i88      ADMIRALS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN 

as  a  prisoner,  but  one  to  whom  the  most  courteous  and 
flattering  attention  was  constantly  given. 

The  fall  of  the  Ministry,  which  was  one  of  the  results 
of  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis,  brought  about  changes  in 
the  Government,  and  Lord  Sandwich  was  succeeded  by 
Lord  Keppel  as  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty.  Before  the 
news  of  his  encounter  with  de  Grasse  reached  England, 
the  new  Admiralty  had  sent  out  orders  displacing  Rod/ 
ncy  and  appointing  Admiral  Pigot  to  succeed  him. 
When  the  news  arrived,  Admiral  Pigot  had  already 
sailed,  and  on  the  twenty/second  of  July,  Admiral  Rod/ 
ney  left  Jamaica,  arriving  home  on  the  fifteenth  of  Sep/ 
tember,  1782. 

His  stay  in  Jamaica  had  been  marked  by  many  demon/ 
strations  of  respect  and  gratitude,  and  in  the  following 
year  the  governing  council,  or  House  of  Assembly  of  the 
island,  voted  funds  toward  erecting  a  statue  of  Lord  Rod/ 
ney  "as  a  mark  of  gratitude  and  veneration  for  his  gal/ 
**lant  services,  so  timely  and  gloriously  performed  for 
**the  salvation  of  the  island  in  particular,  as  well  as  the 
"whole  of  the  British  West  India  islands." 

Upon  Lord  Rodney's  return  to  England,  he  lived  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  time  with  his  family  in  retirement 
in  the  country,  although  occupied  to  some  extent  with 
legal  matters  grovidng  out  of  the  seizures  at  St.  Eustatius. 
He  continued  to  be  troubled  with  the  gout,  which  had 
annoyed  him  during  his  later  voyages,  and  on  the  twenty/ 


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LORD  RODNEY  189 

third  of  May,  1792,  he  died,  at  the  age  of  seventy ^three. 
He  had  been  in  the  navy  sixty/two  years,  about  fifty  of 
which  had  been  in  commission,  an  extraordinary  period 
of  active  service. 

The  defeat  of  de  Grasse  by  Rodney  practically  ended 
the  war  for  the  Bourbons.  Later  in  the  same  year, 
Great  Britain  made  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  United 
States,  which  was  shortly  followed  by  treaties  of  peace 
with  the  Bourbon  powers.  The  latter  had  gained  little  by 
the  war.  In  America  Great  Britain  had  lost  the  rebellious 
states,  but  had  increased  her  prestige  and  power  in  the 
West  Indies,  a  fact  from  which  at  the  time  little  comfort 
was  derived.  With  the  dawning  of  a  new  century,  the 
Caribbean  Sea  lost  much  of  its  importance  as  a  battle/ 
ground  for  European  quarrels,  although  the  successful 
wars  of  the  Spanish  colonies  for  independence  from  Spain 
made  it  the  arena  for  many  more  struggles  at  both  the 
beginning  and  end  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


THE  END 


PARTIAL  LIST  OF  SOURCES  AND 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Printed  Sources 
Historia  General  de  las  Indias,  by  Gonzalo  Fernandez  de 

Oviedo  y  Valdes,  1526  and  1535. 
Novus  Orbis,  ed.  by  S.  Grynaeus,  Paris,  1532. 
Libro  Primo  della  Historia  deV  Indie  Occident  alt  ...  by  Peter 

Martyr,  Venice,  1 534. 
Libro  Ultimo  de  Siimmario  de  Indie,  by  Peter  Martyr,  Venice, 

1534. 
The  Decades  of  the  New  World,  by  Peter  Martyr,  London,  1555, 
Historia  General  de  las  Indias,  by  F.  Lopez  de  Gomara,  1552- 

Breuissima  relacion  de  la  destruycion  de  las  Indias,  etc.,  by 

B.  de  las  Casas,  Sevilla,  1552-53. 
Primo  Volume  Delle  Navigationi  et  Viaggi  ...  by  Giov.  B.  Ra- 
•  musio,  Venice,  1554.  (Second  vol.  and  3d  edition,  1583.) 
Historia  de  Mondo  Nuodo,  by  Girol.  Benzoni,  Venice,  1565 

and  1572. 
Historia  natural  y  moral  de  las  IndiaSy  by  Jos6  de  Acosta, 

Sevilla,  1590. 
Americce,  by  J.  Theo.  de  Bry,  Parts  III  to  VIII,  Francofurti, 

1592-99. 
Historia  General  de  los  Hechos  de  los  Castellanos,  by  A.  de 

Herrera,  Madrid,  1 601-15. 
The  English- American,  his  Travail  by  Sea  ^  Land;  or  A  New 

Survey  of  the  West  Indies,  by  Thomas  Gage,  London,  1648. 
A  New  Voyage  ^  Description  of  the  Isthmus  of  America,  by 

Lionel  Wafer,  London,  1699. 
Coleccion  de  los  viages  y  descubrimientos^  by  Mart.  F.  de  Na- 

varrete,  Madrid,  1825-37. 


192        SOURCES  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bampier's  Voyages y  edited  by  John  Masefield,  London,  1906. 
The  Journals  of  Columbus,  records,  etc.,  included  in  the  various 
standard  editions  of  the  Life  of  Columbus. 

Drake 

Printed  Sources 

The  Principall  Navigations,  Voiages  and  Discoveries  of  the 
English  Nation, ...  by  Richard  Hakluyt.  London,  1589. 
(Containing  the  account  by  Thomas  Cates  of  Drake's 
voyage  in  1585,  the  voyage  around  the  world,  etc.) 

Sir  Francis  Brake  Revived,  by  Philip  Nichols,  London,  1626. 

Hakluytus  Posthumus,  or  Purchas  his  Pilgrimes,  Contayning 
.  .  .  Sea  Voyages,  and  Lande  Travells,  by  Englishmen  and 
Others,  by  Samuel  Purchas,  London,  1625.  (Containing 
Camden's  account  of  Drake's  youth  and  voyages,  the  nar- 
rative of  Peter  Carder,  etc.) 

The  World  Encompassed  by  Sir  Francis  Brake,  collected  from 
the  notes  of  Master  Francis  Fletcher,  London,  1652. 

Coleccion  de  Bocumentos  Ineditos  relativos  al  descubrimiento 
conquista  y  colonization  de  las  possessiones  espanoles  en 
America  ,  .  .  Madrid,  1864-84. 

Brake  and  the  Tudor  Navy,  by  J.  S.  Corbett,  London,  1898. 

Morgan 

Printed  Sources 
Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Colonial  Series,  1669  et  seq.  Con^ 
taining: 

Journal  of  Lords  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 
Extracts  from  Journal  of  the  Assembly  of  Jamaica. 
Extracts  from  Minutes  of  the  Council  of  Jamaica. 
Official  reports,  orders  and  appointments. 
Petitions,  libels,  affidavits  and  enquiries. 
Letters  to  and  from  Sir  Henry  Morgan,  Lord  Vaughan,  the 

Earl  of  Carlisle,  Governor  Modyford,  Francis  Mingham 

and  others. 


SOURCES  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHY        193 

Bucaniers  of  America^  Or,  a  true  Account  of  the  Most  remarkable 
assaults  committed  of  late  years  upon  the  Coasts  of  the  West 
Indies,  by  John  Esquemeling,  London,  1684. 

Correspondence  of  the  Family  of  Hatton  (vol.  2),  Camden  So- 
ciety, 1878. 

Buccaneers  in  the  West  Indies  in  the  XVII  Century,  by  C.  H. 
Haring  (a  thesis  presented  to  the  Board  of  Modern  History 
at  Oxford  in  May,  1909),  New  York,  19 10. 

Governors  offamaica^  by  Frank  Cundall,  Kingston,  1920. 
Manuscripts 

"Additional  Manuscripts,"  vols.  11268  and  13964,  British 
Museum. 

State  Papers  (Spain),  vols.  57  and  58,  Public  Record  Office, 
London. 

Contemporaneous  Minutes  in  the  Council  Book  of  Jamaica, 
1672-78. 

Coram  Rege  Roll,  King's  Bench,  No.  2041  m.  526,  Easter 
Term  i,  James  II  (1685).  Malthus,  Thos.  ats.  Henry 
Morgan  Knt. 

Baron  de  Pointis 

Printed  Sources 

Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Colonial  Series,  1696-97. 

Relation  de  ce  qui  c  est  fait  la  Prise  de  Carthagene,  par  le  Sieur 

de  Pointis,  Bruxelles,  1698. 
Relation  Fidele  de  F Expedition  de  Cartagena,  [Paris,]  1699. 
De  Pointis  Expedition  to  Cartagena:  the  Taking  of  the  City  by 

the  French,  their  meeting  with  Admiral  N evil,  etc.  (translated 

from  the  French).  [London,]  1699. 
Histoire  de  I'isle  Espagnola  ou  de  S,  Dominique  Scrite  particu- 

lierement  sur  des  Memoirs  manuscrits  du  P.  Jean  Baptiste 

le  Pers  .  .  .  Par  le  P.  Pierre  Francois  Xavier  de  Charlevoix, 

de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus,  Paris,  1731. 
Account  of  the  Taking  of  Cartagena  by  the  French  and  Buc- 

caniers,  in  the  Year  i6gy,  by  the  Sieur  Pointis,  Commander 

in  Chief  (translated  from  the  French),  London,  1740. 


194        SOURCES  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Histoire  des  Flibustiers,  de  J.  W.  dArchenholtz  (traduite  de 
rallemande),  Paris,  1804. 

History  of  the  Buccaneers  of  America^  by  James  Burney, 
F.R.S.,  London,  18 16. 

LAmiral  du  Casse  (1646-17 15),  par  le  Baron  Robert  du 
Casse,  Paris,  1876. 

A  Study  of  Attacks  upon  Fortified  Harbors,  by  Lieut.  Com- 
mander W.  L.  Rodgers,  U.S.N.  (Proc.  U.S.  Naval  Inst., 
vol.  XXX,  no.  3). 


Vernon 
Printed  Sources 
History  of  Jamaica  in  Thirteen  Letters  from  a  Gentleman  to  his 

Friend,  London,  1740. 
An  Account  of  the  Expedition  to  Cartagena,  with  Explanatory 
Notes  and  Observations,  by  Sir  Charles  Knowles,  London, 

1743- 

A  Journal  of  the  Expedition  to  Cartagena,  with  notes,  in  Answer 
to  a  late  Pamphlet,  Entitled  an  Account  of  the  Expedition  to 
Carthagena,  London,  1744. 

Authentic  Papers  Relating  to  the  Expedition  Against  Cartagena 
containing  Original  Letters  between  the  Admiral  and  the 
General,  their  Councils  of  War,  etc.,  London,  1744. 

Original  Papers  Relating  to  the  Expedition  to  Cartagena,  Lon- 
don, 1744. 

Memorial  of  Admiral  Vernon  from  Contemporary  Authorities^ 
by  William  Frederick  Vernon,  privately  printed,  London, 
1861. 

A  Study  of  Attacks  upon  Fortified  Harbors,  by  Lieut.-Com- 
mander  W.  L.  Rodgers,  U.S.N.  (Proc.  U.S.  Naval  Inst., 
vol.  XXX,  no.  3). 

Massachusetts  in  the  Expedition  under  Admiral  Vernon,  by 
W.  K.  Watkins  (Year  Book,  Soc.  of  Colonial  Wars,  Bos- 
ton, 1899). 


U><^NtV 


SOURCES  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHY         195 

Admiral  Vernon  and  the  Navy;  a  Memoir^  by  Douglas  Ford, 
London,  1907. 
Manuscripts 

Letters  and  Reports  of  Bias  de  Leso,  General  Commanding 
the  Spanish  Galleons  at  Cartagena. 

Letters  and  Reports  of  the  President  of  Panama,  Dionesio 
Martinez  de  la  Vega,  particularly  a  long  report  to  the  King 
of  Spain,  dated  at  Panama,  12  Feb.,  1740  (N.S.). 

Copy  of  a  Diary  of  a  resident  of  Cartagena  during  invasion         >)  /«cW 
by  Admiral  Vernon,  1741.   (Original  at  University  of  Co-  ^ 
lombia,  Bogota.) 

Correspondence  between  Admiral  Vernon  and  Governor 
Trelawney  of  Jamaica  in  connection  with  the  trial  of  Sir 
Chaloner  Ogle  for  assault  before  the  Chief  Justice  of  Ja- 
maica in  1742. 

Letters  between  the  Vice  King  of  Santa  Fe,  Governor  of  Car- 
tagena, and  Admiral  Vernon. 

Letters  of  Vernon,  Wentworth,  and  others  contained  in  the 
large  and  valuable  collection  called  the  "  Vernon-Wager 

I  Manuscripts,"  now  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  Washing- 
ton. 

Various  documents,  letters,  and  notes  in  the  Public  Archives 
and  private  collections  at  Cartagena,  Colombia. 

Rodney 

Printed  Sources 
Letters  from  Sir  George  Bridges  now  Lord  Rodney  to  His  Maj- 
esty s  Ministers^  etc.^  privately  printed,  1781. 
The  Life  and  Correspondence  of  the  late  Admiral  Lord  Rodney , 
^  by  Major-General  Mundy,  London,  1830.   (Containing  let- 
ters to  and  from  Rodney  and  Lady  Rodney,  the  Earl  of 
Sandwich,  Philip  Stevens,  the  Admiralty  Secretary,  Sir 
Samuel  Hood,  the  Earl  of  Carlisle,  the  Comte  de  Grasse, 
Wm.  Pitt,  various  British  and  foreign  officers  and  others.) 
The  Operations  of  the  French  Fleet  under  the  Count  de  Grasse 


196        SOURCES  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

in  iy8i-2^  as  described  in  two  contemporary  journals^  pri- 
vately printed  for  the  Bradford  Club,  New  York,  1864. 

Rodney  s  Victory  over  De  GrassCy  by  Commander  Nankivell, 
R.N.,  in  the  Journal  of  the  Institute  of  Jamaica,  vol.  ii, 
no.  2,  Kingston,  1895. 

The  contemporaneous  issues  of  the  London  Magazine  and 
other  publications,  containing  official  orders,  dispatches, 
and  reports. 
Manuscripts 

Various  unpublished  reports,  letters,  maps  and  naval  diagrams 
in  private  collections  and  public  archives. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Aix-la-Chapelle,  Treaty  of,  154,  157. 

Albemarle,  Lord,  162,  163. 

American  colonies,  war  with  England, 
169. 

Americans,  in  expedition  against  Carta- 
gena, 139. 

Antin,  Marquis  d*,  140. 

Arbuthnot,  Admiral,  175,  176. 

Armada,  Spanish,  the,  4I,  43. 

Armed  Neutrality,  the,  177. 

Augsburg,  Alliance  of,  109. 

Ayora,  Juan  de,  12. 

Balboa,  Vasco  Nunez  dc,  10. 

Banister,  General,  on  Morgan,  93. 

Bastidas,  Rodrigo  de,  9. 

Berreo,  Antonio  de,  19. 

Blake,  Robert,  44. 

Blane,  Sir  Gilbert,  186. 

Bluefields  Bay,  48. 

Boscawen,  Admiral,  158. 

Brazil,  4,  9,  16. 

Buccaneers,  the  word,  17;  the  period  of, 
17,  18;  and  English-Spanish  rela- 
tions, 45-49;  not  pirates,  52. 

Byndloss,  Robert,  103. 

Cabots,  the,  9. 

Cadiz,  40. 

Cape  dc  Verde  Islands,  30i 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  9. 

Carleill,  Christopher,  30,  32,  35,  36. 

Carlisle,  Earl  of,  92,  104. 

Cartagena,  ii;  looring  of,  by  Drake, 
16,  24;  taken  by  de  Pointis,  110-29; 
bombarded  by  Vernon,  138;  failure 
of  Vernon's  expedition  against,  139- 

53- 
Casas,  Bartolom6  de  las,  12,  13. 


Casse,  Admiral  du,  and  the  Cartagena 
expedition,  112-29;  ^^s  career,  113. 

Cates,  Thomas,  31,  36  ». 

Cathcart,  Lord,  140. 

Central  America,  7. 

Chagres,  taken  by  Vernon,'^i39. 

Colombia,  6. 

Columbus,  Bartolom6,  5,  6. 

Columbus,  Christopher,  his  discovery 
of  San  Salvador,  i ;  discovers  Cuba, 
2;  discovers  Haiti,  2;  his  second  voy- 
age and  return  to  Haiti,  3;  makes  set- 
tlements on  Haiti,  3,  4;  discovers 
Jamaica,  5;  his  dealings  with  the  na- 
tives of  Haiti,  5;  his  third  voyage,  5; 
discovers  Trinidad,  5;  returns  to 
Spain  a  prisoner,  6;  his  fourth  voy- 
age, 6,  7;  death,  7. 

Columbus,  Diego,  5. 

Columbus,  Fernando,  6, 

Cortez,  Hernan,  11. 

Cosa,  Juan  de  la,  9,  10. 

Costa  Rica,  49,  55-66, 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  44. 

Crooke,  W.,  his  translation  of  Exque- 
melin,  51,  52;  his  apology  of  Morgan, 
93-99;  his  first  apology,  100. 

Cuba,  discovered  by  Columbus,  2;  con- 
quered by  Velazquez,  10. 

Cumana,  14. 

Darien,  Gulf  of,  9. 

Darien,  Isthmus  of,  7,  27, 

Daunou,  Captain,  120. 

Demerara,  179. 

Dominica,  14,  31. 

Douglas,  Sir  James,  158,  162,  163. 

Drake,  Edmund,  25. 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  his  voyage  around 


200 


INDEX 


the  world,  15,  1 6,  23, 14,  28;  in  com- 
mand of  the  "  Judith,"  1 5, 25, 26;  his 
taking  of  Cartagena,  16,  33-39;  last 
voyage,  16,41;  romantic  associations 
of  his  name,  24;  birth  and  early  life, 
25;  three  voyages  (1570,  1571,  1572) 
to  the  West  Indies,  26,  27;  sees 
the  Pacific,  27;  political  career,  28, 
41 ;  his  voyage  of  1585,  28-40;  service 
in  European  waters,  40,  41. 
Drake,  Rear-Admiral,  178,  181. 

England,  beginning  of  her  influence  in 
the  New  World,  42-45;  war  with 
Holland,  48;  treaty  with  Spain  for 
peace  in  the  New  World,  92;  war 
with  Spain,  130,  131;  West  India 
policy  of,  154;  war  with  American 
colonies,  169;  war  with  Holland, 
177. 

English  explorers,  character  of,  7,  8. 

Essequibo,  179. 

Exquemelin,  John,  his  History  of  the 
Buccaneers^  49~52>  ^o^;  his  account 
of  the  sacking  of  Puerto  Velo,  55-66; 
his  account  of  the  Panamd  expedi- 
tion, 75-91;  and  Crooke's  apology, 
93-100. 

Florida,  10,  40. 
Frobischer,  Martin,  30. 
Frogge,  William,  his  account  of  the  tak- 
ing of  Panamd,  80,  83  n. 

Gama,  Vasco  da,  9. 

Granada,  49,  53,  54,  160. 

Grasse,  Comte  de,  180-87. 

Greene,  John,  Morgan's  attorney,  99. 

Grog,  origin  of  the  word,  153. 

Guiana,  19,  20. 

Guichen,  Admiral  de,  173-76. 

Haiti.  See  Hispaniola. 

Hatton,    Charles,    his    testimony   on 

Morgan,  100-02. 
Havana,  taken  by  Pocock,  162-64. 
Hawke,  Admiral,  156,  158. 


Hawkins,  Sir  John,  his  voyages  to  the 

West  Indies,  13-17,  25,  41. 
Hispaniola,  discovered  by  Columbus, 

2,  3;  early  settlements  made  on,  3-6; 

Drake  in,  31-33. 
Holland,  war  with  England,  177. 
Hood,  Sir  Samuel,  178-86. 
Hopson,  Admiral,  133. 

Indians,  the  name,  2. 
"Isabel,"  seizure  of,  131. 
Isabella,  settlement  on  Haiti,  4,  5. 

Jackman,  privateer,  49,  52. 

Jackson,  Captain  William,  21. 

Jamaica,  discovered  by  Columbus,  5; 
Columbus  wrecked  on,  7;  settled  by 
Spanish  and  conquered  by  English, 
20,  21,  44;  Modyford  appointed 
Governor  of,  45;  character  of  colo- 
nists of,  47;  Spanish  land  on,  71; 
Morgan  appointed  Deputy-Gover- 
nor of,  92;  centre  of  smuggling  trade, 
166;  severe  earthquake  in,  166. 

Jenkins,  Captain,  131. 

Jimeno,  D.  Sancho,  119. 

Jones,  Paul,  177. 

KnoUys,  Francis,  30. 

Labrador,  9. 

Lake  Nicaragua,  ^2* 

Leon,  Juan  Ponce  de,  10. 

Lepe,  Diego,  9. 

Lestock,  Commodore,  in  the  Cartagena 
expedition,  140,  144,  150. 

Louisburg,  158. 

Lynch,  Sir  Thomas,  Governor  of  Ja- 
maica, 105,  106, 

Mackenzie,  Commodore,  165. 

Madrid,  Treaty  of,  92. 

Magellan,  11. 

Malthus,  Thomas,  his  translation  of 
Exquemelin,  51,  52;  Morgan's  com- 
plaint against,  99,  100, 

Manila,  164. 


INDEX 


201 


Manoa,  19. 

Mansfield,  Captain  Edward,  48,   49, 

54- 
Maracaibo,  capture  of,  68,  69. 

Martinique,  discovered  by  Columbus, 
7;  taken  by  Rodney,  i58-6a 

Mexico,  II,  43. 

Mexico,  Gulf  of,  10. 

Mingham,  Francis,  105. 

Modyford,  Sir  Thomas,  Governor  of 
Jamaica,  45-48,  54j  67,  71;  sum- 
moned home  a  prisoner,  92. 

Monckton,  General,  158-60. 

Morgan,  Colonel  Blendry,  91. 

Morgan,  Colonel  Edward,  46-48,  50. 

Morgan,  Sir  Henry,  in  Campcache,  49; 
parentage,  50;  becomes  buccaneer, 
51,  52,  54;  not  a  pirate,  52,  54, 71-74, 
98,  99,  loi;  receives  commission 
from  Modyford,  54;  under  Mansfield 
in  attack  on  Granada,  54;  his  Puerto 
Velo  adventure,  55-67;  takes  Mara- 
caibo,  68,  69;  and  the  "Almirante," 
70;  receives  new  commission  from 
Modyford,  71-74;  his  attack  on  Pan- 
ami,  75-91;  summoned  home,  92; 
Deputy-Governor  of  Jamaica,  92; 
charges  against,  exaggerated,  93,  99; 
General  Banister's  testimony  to,  93; 
Crooke's  apology  of,  93-100;  his 
complaint  against  Malthus,  99, 100; 
Charles  Hatton's  testimony  to,  100- 
02;  swashbuckler  spirit  of,  102;  cited 
before  Council  of  Jamaica,  103;  act- 
ing Governor  of  Jamaica,  104;  letter 
concerning  himself,  105;  and  Sir 
Thomas  Lynch,  106;  reinstatement 
in  Council  after  dismissal,  106;  death, 
107;  estimate  of  his  character,  107, 
108. 

Morris,  privateer,  49,  52. 

Myngs,  Admiral,  21. 

Nantes,  revocation  of  Edict  of,  109. 
Nicuesa,  Diego  de,  10. 
Nino,  Pedro  Alonzo,  9. 
Nombre  de  Dios,  9,  26, 


North,  Lord,  177. 
Nueva  Granada,  6  ».,  11, 

Ogeron,  Bertrand  d*,  46. 

Ogle,  Sir  Chaloner,  in  the  Cartagena 

expedition,  i39-5a 
Ojeda,  de,  5,  8,  10. 
Ordaz,  19. 
Orinoco  River,  6, 
Oviedo,  12. 

Oxenham,  John,  27,  28, 
"Oxford,"  the,  68. 

Pacific  Ocean,  discovery  of,  10,  ii; 
viewed  by  Drake,  27. 

Panama,  43;  capture  and  sack  of,  75- 
91. 

Paris,  Treaty  of  (1763),  164;  (1783), 
189. 

Pediarias,  12. 

Penn,  attack  on  Jamaica,  21,     ' 

Peru,  11,43-. 

Petty,  Francis,  16. 

Pigot,  Admiral,  188. 

Pineda,  10. 

Pinzon,  Vicente,  9,  10. 

Pirates,  and  buccaneers,  52.  See  Buc- 
caneers. 

Pizarro,  Francisco,  10,  II. 

Plate,  River,  16. 

Pocock,  Sir  George,  162-64. 

Pointis,  Admiral  de,  and  the  Cartagena 
expedition,  110-29. 

Pope,  Alexander  VI,  his  division  of  the 
world  between  Spain  and  Portugal, 

4- 

Pope,  Martin  V,  his  grant  of  lands  to 
Portugal,  4. 

Portugal,  and  the  Pope's  line,  4. 

Privateers,  and  pirates,  52.  4$"^^  Buc- 
caneers. 

Providence  Island,  49,  75. 

Puerto  Bello,  capture  of,  by  Vcmon, 

Puerto  Rico,  10,  4I. 
Puerto  Velo,  capture  and  sack  of,  55- 
66. 


202 


INDEX 


Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  44;  in  the  West 
Indies,  13,  18-20. 

Rio  Carta,  53. 

Rodney,  Lord  George  Brydges,  early 
career,  155-58;  takes  Martinique, 
158-60;  takes  Santa  Lucia  and  Gra- 
nada, 160;  his  resolution,  161,  162, 
166-68;  ordered  to  co-operate  with 
Pocock  and  Albemarle,  162,  163;  po- 
sitions held  by,  165;  Commander-in- 
Chief  at  Jamaica,  165;  letter  to  Gov- 
ernor of  Cartagena  on  action  of  Span- 
ish coast  guards,  167, 168;  in  France, 
169;  receives  command  in  Leeward 
Islands,  169;  captures  Spanish  con- 
voy, 170  engages  Spanish  squadron, 
171;  engages  French  fleet  under  de 
Guichen,  173-75;  in  American  wa- 
ters, 176;  takes  St.  Eustatius  and 
other  Dutch  Islands,  177,  178;  cap- 
tures Dutch  convoy,  178, 179;  and  de 
Grasse,  180-87;  becomes  Vice-Ad- 
miral  of  Great  Britain,  182;  defends 
himself  against  charges  in  House  of 
Commons,  182;  returns  to  England, 
188;  death,  189. 

RoUo,  Lord,  158. 

Rook,  Sir  George,  133. 

Russell,  Francis,  25. 

Ryswick,  Treaty  of,  1 10. 

Saba,  178. 

St.  Augustine,  40. 

St.  Eustatius,  attacked  by  Colonel 
Morgan,  47,  48;  taken  by  Rodney, 
177,  178;  retaken  by  French,  183. 

St.  Jago  de  la  Vega,  21. 

St.  Kitts,  183. 

St.  Martin,  178. 

San  Domingo,  taken  by  Drake,  31,  32; 
headquarters  of  French  buccaneers, 
112. 

San  Salvador,  discovered  by  Colum- 
bus, I. 

Sandwich,  Lord,  171,  172,  183. 

Santa  Lucia,  surrendered  to  Rodney, 
160. 


Santa  Marta,  11. 

Shovel,  Sir  Cloudesley,  133. 

Smith,  Captain  John,  44. 

Smollett,  Tobias,  152. 

Smuggling,  166. 

Solis,  Juan  Diaz  de,  10. 

South  Sea,  11. 

Spain,  and  the  Pope's  line,  4;  character 
of  her  domination  of  the  West  I  ndies, 
7-13,  17,  21,  22,  42,  43;  her  claims  in 
America,  in  sixteenth  century,  23, 
42;  her  sea-power  before  and  after 
the  defeat  of  the  Armada,  42-44; 
treaty  with  England  for  peace  in  the 
New  World,  92;  war  with  England, 

130.  131- 
Spanish,  land  on  Jamaica,  71;  coast 

guards  of,  166. 
Spanish  Main,  the,  10. 
Spanish  Town,  21. 
S wanton.  Commodore,  160, 

Tobago,  181. 

Tortuga,  46,  47. 

Trinidad,  discovered  by  Columbus,  5; 

Raleigh  at,  20. 
Truxillo,  ^2- 

Universities,  Spanish,  in  the  New 
World,  43. 

Vaughan,  General,  178. 

Vaughan,  Lord  Governor  of  Jamaica, 
92,  102-04. 

Velazquez,  Diego,  10. 

Venables,  attack  on  Jamaica,  21. 

Venezuela,  6  «.,  14. 

Vernon,  Edward,  urges  expedition 
against  Puerto  Bello,  132;  early  ca- 
reer, 133;  takes  Puerto  Bello,  133- 
38;  bombards  Cartagena  and  takes 
Chagres,  138,  139;  failure  of  his  ex- 
pedition against  Cartagena,  139-52; 
popularly  called  "Old  Grog,"  153. 

Vernon,  James,  133. 

Vespucci,  Amerigo,  8. 

Villa  de  Mosa,  52. 


INDEX 


203 


Walker,  Captain,  133. 

Walpole,  Sir  Robert,  130,  131. 

Watling's  Island,  i  n.  See  San  Salva- 
dor. 

Wentworth,  General  Thomas,  in  the 
Cartagena  expedition,  140-52. 

West  Indies,  the  name,  i ;  Columbus's 


voyages  to,  1-7;  under  Spanish  dom- 
ination, 7-13,   17;  and   the  bucca- 
neers, 15-21,  46-50. 
Wright,  Captain  Lawrence,  his  account 
of  Morgan's  death  and  burial,  107. 

Yucatan,  10. 


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